Ruka to Maou
by Kuraihikaru
Summary: A twist in the tale of Boku to Maou. Ruka is still a puppet to an extent, but not Belioune's, so whose? This follows the game play, but focuses on Ruka and his thoughts. Classification is not the worst that will happen to them. Enjoy!
1. Prelude

**Ruka to Maou**

**Summary:** A twist in the tale of Boku to Maou, Ruka is still a puppet to an extent, but not Belioune's, so whose? This follows the game play to some extent, the dialogue is exactly the same in the beginning except for some key moments, but that will change once the characters become more aware as the story progresses... Classification is not the worst that will happen to them. Enjoy~

**Main Pairing:** Stan x Ruka

**Other Pairings:** Undecided

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Game

**Disclaimer: Okage © of Zenner Works, therefore I own nothing!**

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><p><strong>Prelude<strong>

The circus swept through the dark, dancers in pale colored tutus, twirling and jugglers in vests with parachute pants, parading. The clowns with bright colored paints adorning their faces in geometrical shapes were drumming. All were passing through grassy fields to get to the next town over.

Music fills the once silent night. The last to arrive and leave was a pudgy man in a tall top hat, and in the eerie moonlit night something seemed to have been left behind… a bottle. A purple jeweled bottle in which a bespectacled brunette man, who was just, coincidentally, passing by on his way home from work, took and brought back to his manor. The Nameless Manor.

At that moment an explosion occurred in the far off distance! Pieces of metal went flying, scattering across the land. One flew and crashed into the metallic tower near the manor making for a high pitch _dinging_ sound… one that alerted the spirits and animals around, and one boy.

A boy stirred, red hair tousled here and there, until he settle back to his _**last**_ peaceful night of sleep…

**TBC...**

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><p><strong>KH:<strong> Okay! I know that was short, but the other chapters will be the chapters from the game... and those are long! I mean it, one boss is a chapter so, please be patient. That was only the opening of the game, so this is the only opening of the story~

It does get better, and it will be riddled with humor, or so I hope... Oh word of warning, it's not gonna be love at first sight, they might not even like each other at first, but I'll try to keep the character in character, so this will mainly focus on adventuring, but there will be hints. I like their characteristics the way they are. But if you know me, you'll know I'm a bit sadistic... *Grins baring sharp jagged teeth*


	2. Boy meets King Part 1

**Ruka to Maou**

**Summary:** In the prelude

**Main Pairing:** Stan x Ruka

**Other Pairings:** Undecided, life is fickle, let the characters be fickle.

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Game

**Disclaimer:** Okage © of Zenner Works, therefore I own nothing!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Boy meets King <strong>_**Part 1**_

"Hum, hum, hum… Da da da da… I am a super mom. I am a beautiful wife, a stupendous chef, a doting mother. Hum, hum, hum… La da da…" a woman, with red hair in a yellow shirt and blue overall dress, sang as she walked across a dark candle lit kitchen with creaky wooden flooring. The kitchen corners were covered with ancient cobwebs, and the kitchen eerie.

"Hi mom! What's for dinner tonight?" an orange haired girl entered with her miss-matching ribbons in her pigtails, one black and green, the other black and pink, her stockings were also striped and mismatched, one short and one long.

"Oh, Annie!" her mother turned around "You've just ate lunch. You'll burst your little frame!"

"Come on, it smells good. Tell me, tell me," she whined "see, Ruka came too!"

Ruka was staring at the knife currently lodge atop a pumpkin, in which he had seen sitting on the counter of their kitchen since he was very small…

'Why hasn't it rotten yet…?' he wondered when a voice rang through the air, but only the boy seemed to notice his narrations…

'Okay… I'm hearing things… _**hero**_ huh…? Yup definitely hearing things…' the boy shook his head, clearing his mind. He wasn't even upset by the fact that the voice called him an _**unassuming**_ hero…

"Mom, mom!" she kept on "Come on. What's for dinner tonight? Stew? Or steak?"

'Why only those two choices?' the boy wondered 'Couldn't we have a baked potato or something?' but he kept his thoughts to himself…

"Well, Ruka, what do you think?" their mother turned to him.

"Steak" 'Well, if I have a choice… might as well have a steak?' he thought as he shrugged.

"Well, the answer is… a secret!" their mother declared happily.

"Mom! It's not fair! Oh, tell me please!" Annie whined, pouting as she crossed her arms.

"Hm, well. Let me see…" she chuckled, ladle in her hands.

'She's having fun teasing us… though it's not much to tease about, I mean, we'll find out eventually…' the boy smiled to himself as he watched his mother giggle and his sister pout.

"Oh, that reminds me, Ruka!" she exclaimed shocking her son out of thought.

"Dad brought back a funny bottle yesterday. Look, it's out there on the table" Ruka walks over to the purple bottle.

"But, we couldn't get the cap off of the bottle" his mother hummed thoughtfully.

'A purple bottle, huh? Strange…' he stared at the bottle with his large round emerald eyes, for moment he saw it move. 'Must be my imagination…'

"Don't you think it's strange?"

'Whoa, mom's reading my mind!' the boy blinked as his mother smiled tilting her head.

Suddenly the boy then had the urge to either, try to correct his mother by taking the cap off, or rather poke it, or may perhaps even… smell it.

He chose the latter answer and smelt it…

'Smells moldy… I should have known…' he thought as he blinked, and turned to his mother.

"See… I wonder what's in there."

'What…? I just smelt it… well I guess some people can tell what stuff are by the smell of it… but I guess mom can tell if you can open it or not by smell?' he nodded slowly.

"Mom! It's pointless to have a bottle we can't open! Throw it away!" Annie waved it off, apparently she was still miffed about not knowing what dinner is, rather what was in the moldy smelling bottle.

'You'd think she would want to open it now…' Ruka thought when his mother interrupted his thoughts,

"Well, let's see. What should we do…" she hummed.

'Mother seems to be stalling, maybe because dad's obsessed with it… and she doesn't want to upset her teddy bear' Ruka inwardly laughed at the nickname his mother called his father when she thinks no one is around… then a sad thought entered his mind…

'Not many people notice me, huh…?'

"Oh, that reminds me!" their mother shouted surprising both children.

"I forgot to pick up bread! I'm busy cooking so I can't go. Hmmm, what should I do?" she pondered while she stared at us and then smiled.

'Mom's way of getting us to go…' Ruka glanced over at Annie and knew his sister knew it too, her eyes told Ruka, 'I'm not doing it'

Ruka considered his options. He could offer to get the bread, or he could pass it to Annie, or he could just keep quiet…Ruka chose the first, knowing his mom would choose him anyways…

"Well, I can…" Ruka offered.

"That's my brother! Huh, me? I.." Ruka was just as surprised as Annie when his mother pointed to her.

"I would, but darn it all! I have a test tomorrow at school! I can't sacrifice my education, right?"

'Isn't it summer vacation…?' Ruka blinked, he turned to his mother who was smiling knowingly.

"Okay, Ruka" she turned to her son. "Pick up the bread at the bakery in the village. It will be put on our tab there, so you can just pick it up" he nodded smiling.

"Thank you!" she turned back to her stew pot…

'Well now I know, it's stew, huh…' he smiled as he walked out the door. Once outside he noticed the fountain in front of their manor was dry as a bone… and also it was getting late.

'Well, when do people eat dinner?' he chuckled at his inside joke when something shiny caught his eye… 'Something is there…?' he walked over to the tin tower and picked it up, 'A tiny… gear?' suddenly music rang through the air…

'O-Kay…?' he thought as he headed for the stairs, but Annie was blocking them.

"Mmm, then what's for dinner?" she asked "Aww! Come on, tell me!"

'She's really interested… she must be starving' "Well"

"That's it! Just tell me!" He told her stew and she brightened up.

"Well! I'm going out on a twilight date with Morris! To polish my feminine airs, I have to build up experience while I'm young. My book says so too…" she stated proudly.

For the first time Ruka voice his thought "What kind of book says so?" he blinked.

"It's Mom's book. What was the name… Um…" she thought about it for a moment, he waited.

"'Controlling Guys Made easy'" she chirped and then followed by a "Well, enjoy your errand, Ruka!" and skipped off humming "La da da, hum hum hum…"

'…Okay… now I know how mom has dad wrapped around her little finger… hm… maybe I should read it…' he wondered… 'There are a lot guys in my class who seem… slow, should be easy enough…' he nodded when he noticed the sun was setting.

"Oh no…" he rushed down the steps into town rushing pass and pudgy and skinny kid. That's when he remembered as he entered the town.

'The water is shut off… the store might be closed tomorrow… maybe I should buy some meat for mom… I do want dinner tomorrow' he thought and made a pit stop. Apparently he had bought the last of the ground beef.

And with that, he left for the bakery. 'We have a refrigerator' he thought mindlessly to himself as he pocked the meat in his bag…

'Where did this bag come from… better yet… where does it go… and what's with the music?' he wondered as he entered the bakery.

That's when he spots the bakery man and decided to say hi.

"Hi Ruka. Running errands? Don't take it personally, she has a sharp tongue. But she care about you, really!" the bakery man warned him.

'Oh, right… she's does have a sharp tongue' he remembered the last time he came… she told him to be assertive and to speak up…

"Lalalalalalala, lalalalalalala…" she hummed as she checked her oven.

"Excuse me" Ruka called. But she didn't hear him because she kept on humming.

'She's also a little deaf isn't she…' he turned to the bakery man who smiled and nodded.

Ruka turned back and shouted "Hello? !"

"Huh? Oh, it's you, Ruka. Don't I always tell you? A boy should speak up!"

'But… I did… okay, I think she should see the doctor to get her ears checked…'

"You've come to pick up the bread, right?" she saw him nod.

"Here you are!" she handed him the bread. He stared at his bag… he was worried that the disappearing bag might not be able to hold all his things…

"Anything bothering you? Come on, keep your chin up, boy. Girls like the assertive ones, now!"

'Right, that's what she said last time…' he pocketed the bread and suddenly music rang like how he had found the tiny gear and got the ground beef… he looked around again wearily…

The baker woman seemed to not notice it because she gave Ruka a weird look, like say,

'Poor child… seems out of it' the baker man seemed to be thinking the same, but Ruka was too busy wondering,

'Where in the world does that music emanate from!' as he glanced around while opening the door.

Once outside Annie appeared, must have just come from Morris's place, it was sunset.

'Must have been a short twilight date, since the sun is still setting…' Ruka thought, then pondered 'Is the sun even moving?'

"Ruka, are you done with the errand?" she asked jumping up and down on the spot, he nodded once. "Okay, then let's go home! I think dinner is ready."

He nodded again, still puzzled about the music…

"…What's wrong? Did the bakery woman lecture you again?" she almost sounded sympathetic for a moment.

"No. Not really…" he muttered, his mind elsewhere as Annie prattled on, he didn't even hear her as they walked home, lost in his own thoughts.

"Ruka, you're the type that… blends into someone else's shadow. Oh well, at least there's someone who sees some good in you. Hehe, for instance… Julia. You lucky guy!"

'Hm, what about Julia…? Oh, I did see her today… but I ran past her… should I have said hello?' he wondered as they entered their gate home. When he heard the voice again!

'!' He jumped out of fright, but deduced it to being his imagination… Annie stared at him and said "Okay…" as they went into the kitchen. His mother thanked him for the bread and they all sat down to a family dinner.

**The next night…**

The family assembled into the drawing room, a room in which his grandparents are usually at because it was where the fireplace was located.

"Hmmm… This crest is… I think… Hmmm…" his father mused fiddling with the bottle. His mother giggled and said,

"Your father is crazy about the bottle! He really likes antiques!" then she remembered something, Ruka could tell by the way she opened her eyes.

"Oh you know what, the circus is in the field outside the village tonight!" she turned to her children.

"Ruka, Annie… why don't you go and have fun?" she asked all smiles.

"Alright Ma, see you later!" Annie was about to rush out the door, Ruka just stayed there.

'She suggested I go, but I don't really want to… it's warm here…' Ruka thought when his mother halted his sister.

"Oh, Annie… You shouldn't go out alone at night. Go with your brother"

'Wait… then I would have to go… sigh… tis the life of an older brother' Ruka straighten up wearily and turned to Annie who grinned and said.

"Don't worry! Chad is picking me up! La di da, I'm going out on a date tonight!" and promptly rushed out the door, and for good reason.

Ruka had seen the glint in his father's eyes, usually his mother would see this as well but she was too busy reminiscing about Annie growing up.

"Oh Annie… A boy is picking you up…? You've grown up! I'm so happy for you!"

Ruka noticed his father trying to urge his mother into conversation, so he walked over and poked his father, whom turned to him cheerfully and said,

"Ruka! My son!" Ruka had to smile at his father's antics.

"Let's talk for a while, boy. Ahem, this bottle… this bottle is…" his father paused, waiting for commentary as usual.

"It's awesome! Purple is so cool" 'Not my color, but yeah, never did see a purple bottle before…'

"Oh, you know the difference! Good. Listen, this crest on the bottle is.. if my theory is correct, this crest is in the shape of the tail of the rainbow rat that only comes out by moonlight, namely…"

Again, he paused dramatically.

Ruka shook his head, 'Father is father' "Uh huh, and?"

His father grinned and continued "Among those ancient rituals is… and the curve of the is … foretold by the shoelace weaver…with the proper harmonics… all you need is a little bit of garlic … at 200 degrees for an hour… No, wait, let me see… Then yes! No, no… Then it's simple quantum physics"

'Wow… the curve of the handle is one of the symbols in which a mystical weaver of shoelaces had used to produce a ritual in which you need to bake garlic for 200 degrees for an hour in an oven that uses different wave or rather frequencies… wait isn't that already physics?' he pondered and went back to actually listening.

"Um, dear… I think…"

"Oh honey, if you're tired go to bed first, I'm still explaining the magical essences of the bottle to Ruka" he waved his wife off, she looked to her son. Ruka smiled and nodded. She smiled brightly again and went to bed.

Two hours later…

"…Therefore, …. Because… is my conclusion! Do you understand, son!" he asked happily.

'Basically, an alchemy seal…and whatever is trapped in the bottle is sealed pretty tightly in there… for whatever reason…'

"Yup, got it!" Ruka nodded.

"Oh yes, that's my son!" his father patted him, ruffling his hair already messy auburn hair, though Ruka was much taller than he was.

"Yes, the circus was tonight, right. Well, don't just stand there. Go and have some fun, boy!" his father waved him off.

'But I don't want to… the circus is… a place in which people find amusing due to their sullen melancholy lives, it just reminds me to much of how society expects me to seek pleasure for soon the end is neigh…' he narrowed his eyes at the door and he headed to the circus. Why, to check to see if his sister was okay.

'I don't trust the boys in our village…' Ruka turned his head; the pudgy boy was still waiting for his date in front of the village gate… 'always obsessing with how many dates they can get…they don't even remember their dates names… wait that's Annie… hm…' Ruka stood there pondering if he should turn back, but he was already at the tent.

"Good evening…" Ruka turned his head and saw Julia, the blonde haired girl with the white dress, and cool brown boots.

"Hey, Ruka, what's going on? The circus's over. Hahaha, you're such a dork. You always miss out! Hi Julia, I know a place with a great view. Come on, let's take a walk. See ya Ruka" said the skinny boy. He really was thin…

"Bye…" Julia looked upset as she walked past Ruka, following the skinny boy, whom was ecstatic that he got a date with Julia.

'Maybe… it's because I didn't ask her to go to the circus with me… but she probably would have had a date already seeing as I didn't even know a circus was in town until mom said so two hours ago…'

That's when he noticed a pudgy man in a tall hat exist the tent. Ruka had wanted to ask if he'd seen an orange-haired girl with pigtails and mismatching socks, but the man was thoroughly drunk…

"Ah, the joy of a drink after work! Huh? Hey kiddo, circus's already over, By the way kid, your spirit seems overshadowed. Everybody tells you that, huh?" he was wobbling on the spots, and he reeked of booze.

"That's not true!" Ruka pinched his nose and took a step backwards. 'Only Annie… I think… she was saying something yesterday… people say I'm quiet… that's not overshadowed, right?' he thought about it.

"Ahahaha, I see. Well, you know, you're very overshadowed. Watch yourself now" Ruka nodded slowly…

'There is something off about this man…'

"Hehehe! Be strong kiddo! Hahaha!" and with that the man stumbled away.

"Okay…" Ruka blinked and turned to leave when he heard and a familiar scream,

"ANNIE!" 'I knew I couldn't trust those boys!' "I'M COMING ANNIE!" In a bout of overprotective brother mode, the adrenaline got him to the scene fairly quickly.

"Oh nooooo! It, it it it's a ghost! It's a ghost!" Jan a boy Ruka, faintly, remembers from school, shrieked.

'Wait didn't she say her date was Chad… why is Jan here… wait no time to be thinking about this, there's a ghost!' Ruka looked around and spotted a branch, picking it up he rushed over to Annie, Jan ran past him, the ghost the other way when it spotted a ticked off brother with the wood, only to be stopped by their panicked father.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Their father asked watching the spirit flee into the underbrush. Upon seeing Ruka hold Annie, he rushed over to them and got down and checked her,

"Annie, Annie! Open your eyes, Annie!"

"Dad! Doctor!" Ruka handed Annie to his father as he rushed to the village, which broke his father from his panicked state and soon rushed her home. A little later, Ruka came bursting into the living room with the doctor, still having his night cap flimsily attached to his head.

Apparently the good doctor had been asleep… and Ruka had to carry him all the way there… His mother told him to go wait in his room, because they wouldn't all fit in Annie's room, and the fact that he was about to collapse on the floor wasn't going to help any.

"That's all for now… Take care…" the sleepy doctor proclaimed and left, probably to go back to sleep seeing as he took his nightcap from his bag and placed it on his head while heading out the door. Hearing the front door close, Ruka jumped out of bed and went to Annie's room.

"Ruka… Oh my god… Son. Annie, Annie is…" Ruka nodded waiting for his father to finish his sentence. "God…"

'Oh no Annie is…! Wait… Annie is God…!' Ruka's eyes widened, but snapped out of it when he heard his mother wail.

"Oh, Annie, Annie, my little poor thing" Mother sobbed.

"My granddaughter, my granddaughter…" their grandfather wheezed.

"Uh huh, uh huh… That's right honey…" Grandmother nodded. Ruka walked over to the bed, he patted his grandmother's shoulder as he passed over to the side of the bed, next to his mother.

That's when Annie stirred and muttered something…strange.

"…hatway appenedhay otay emay?"

"Wh, what is she talking about…?" Ruka apparently didn't know Pig-Latin…

"She's cursed with the curse of Pig-Latin" his grandfather stated astounded, though his voice was raspy.

"What on earth is that?" Ruka asked his grandfather, a small man in a Hawaiian shirt and white shorts.

"It's a dreadful curse in which you can only speak in Pig-Latin. The victim skips the first consonant of a word and adds it to the end with an 'ay'" they all turned to Annie.

"Oh Annie, Annie… You poor little thing!" their grandfather shook his head.

"I asway atackedtay ybay a hostgay!" she shouted in horror. She turned to Ruka and said

"Rotherbay, elphay emay! I amay alkingtay allay eirdway!" Ruka was muttering,

"B-brother… help…me… I am… talking… all… weird, oh!" Ruka finally got it.

"The Pig-Latin curse… I used to play it often for fun when I was a little…" father started to reminisce.  
>"Oh, me too, I used to speak in Pig-Latin. Like oodgay orningmay" Grandfather joined in.<p>

"Uh huh, uh huh. That's right honey." Grandmother nodded. Ruka could see his mother steaming, so he remained quiet.

"Everybody, stop it! If we don't do something… Annie will, Annie will… become some comic relief girl, not a precocious pretty princess! This is horrible!" Their mother cried.

'For a moment there, I thought mom was being serious…' Ruka blinked as he turned to Annie and tried to decipher what she had just said.

'I don't… want… to be… a …comic? Yeah comic… relief girl… there's another _serious_ one…sigh' Ruka shook his head and sighed.

"What should we do? How can we break the ghost curse?" their grandfather had asked.

Their grandmother once again said "Uh huh, uh huh. That's right honey…"

"If we don't do something… My little Annie will become comic relief… Oh no, what tragedy!" Again their mother wept.

"Even the doctor condemned her… as incurable… Damn… There is only one thing we can do!" Their father muttered/ shouted.

"Everyone, follow me! I have an idea!" Everyone turned, at the same time.

'Wow… how did we do that…?' Ruka wondered.

"Hey, where are you going?" their grandfather asked.

"To the basement, father. The key to saving Annie is there! Ruka, help us out, okay?"

'Wait… why is father asking me, like I'm segregated from the family… something's wrong…'

"Okay, dad…"

"To save your dearest sister? Can you dedicate both your body and soul?"

'What does he mean… if I didn't know any better I would think father was a pervert…'

"This… all seems weird…"

"Honey, the doctor said that it won't endanger Annie's life…" Their mother tried to talk some reason into their father.

"Oh yeah?" his father remembered.

'Thank good-' Ruka almost sighed.

"Well, you do it anyway, son! For your sister!"

'…' he just stared at his father like he said something stupid, which he did.

"Will you bear anything even if it is hard, painful or unbearable, won't you?"

'He really sounds like a pervert now…'

The rest of the family looked at the father like he was nuts, but Ruka answered anyways.

"Well, umm-"

"Huh? What's that? Anyway, good, excellent! That's the spirit, my boy!" he patted Ruka, then turned to everyone else.

"I found something really amazing the other day…Just follow me!" and off he went, pulling Ruka along. Who was giving his mother a pleading look, she looked worried.

"Oh, you're here Ruka"

'Oh course… you were dragging me right behind you…' Ruka blinked, 'How'd everyone get here before me?'

"Now that everybody's here, I can explain!" he fixed his glasses and knelt down to the bottle,

"This bottle I found the other day. This bottle is actually, it holds the power to change destinies… Behold the legendary vessel!"

The family oo-ed and aw-ed, though Ruka was half joking.

"It's 'Pollack's Bottle', I'm sure of it! Isn't it amazing!" his father gushed like a schoolgirl.

"What's in it…?" I asked wearily, remembering that if it was incredibly sealed as that… it couldn't be anything good…

"Oh wow! What do I get to wish for…" mother exclaimed happily, already forgetting her worries and woes of Annie, Ruka just blinked.

"So, Pollack is a person who really existed several hundred years ago. The legend says that he obtained the power to change a person's fate and hid it in this bottle"

"Ok, go on…" Ruka muttered, only half listening.

"Son, I hate to say this, but this sounds very suspicious" their grandfather stated and their grandmother followed with her catch phrase "Uh huh, uh huh. That's right honey."

"Well, father. Seeing is believing! I knew something like this would happen! So I drew my own magic ideogram a while ago!"

'Wait… father knew something bad would happen…?' Ruka turned to his father whom was still chattering away.

"I will call the great power that changes fates! Gwaaa! Embrace!" his father shot up and stretching out his arms to the skies.

'E-embrace what…?' Ruka jumped, startled by his father's shouting, everyone moved away as their father started to do something along the lines of the disco boogie and muy thai, while chanting…

"We call upon a power forlorn, to issue forth and be reborn. We beckon you our honored guest, to be present and grant us our request. We before your majesty kneel. Grace us now, your true self reveal!" he shouted posing, then muttered something along the lines of "I think that's how it goes…"

'Wait… majesty… as in royalty… wait… father's not sure if this will work…?' Ruka looked over at his father panting, his mother fanning him.

"Huff, huff, that's it." After a minute passed a blinding light shone.

"Oh!" a voice shouted, though it sounded _**muffled**_ to Ruka.

"At last, at last! The time has come for my great master to revive!"

"!" the family was shocked, there floating in the middle of the magic ideogram was a ghost! Not just any ghost, but a ghost in a baby blue tux with a red bow.

'Horns on either side of his head… like a bull… and no mouth…? Well that would explain it- hey wait a minute…aren't ghosts the reason we're in this mess…? Are we actually going to ask help from the perpetrators?' Ruka turned sharply to his father, but the ghost started its introduction.

"I am an evil butler. The name is James! Nice to meet you everyone!"

'… evil… nice to meet…phft' Ruka had to stifle his laughter.

"Now, let me do the introductions" James began, turning to face the bottle.

'Isn't he already introducing himself…?' Ruka blinked.

"The Evil King who presides wickedly over all darkness and malevolence everywhere… Lord Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV!"

"E-Evil King?" Ruka's mother asked turning to her husband who just said,

"Huh? This is strange…"

'I knew there was never anything good sealed in things… they are most defiantly 99% evil every time…' Ruka nodded, he looked at his grandmother whom nodded as well, as though she read his mind.

"Ahem!" a voice interrupted Ruka's findings.

"You may call me Evil King, Stan! I am a purely Evil, Evil King" a baritone accented voice emanated from the bottle.

'I would have never guessed…' Ruka thought while smiling brilliantly at James, for a moment Ruka though he saw hints of red flushed on what was James' mouth-less face.

'Must be the trick of the light…there's no way a specter could blush' Ruka thought as he turned back to listening to the ranting Evil King, er rather the bouncing bottle…

"Let my malevolence and sheer badness awe and terrify you!"

'Sheer badness… right…' Ruka blinked at the bouncing bottle, he wanted to kick the bottle and see what would happen.

'Oh no, my inner id is leaking… maybe he is bad…' Ruka scooted away.

"Ahem… Now, imbecile humans!"

'Wait… don't tell me he's… er it's a mind reader! ?' Ruka again backed away.

"Answer me! Why have you summoned me! ?" after a minute no one answered…

"Darn, I forgot" Ruka muttered and for a moment the bottle stopped bouncing…

"Um… Let me explain, as the family head as well as an assistant manager… we have a favor to ask. We want you to save the life of my child!" the bottle and the evil butler turn to look at Ruka up and down.

"Not me… stop looking…" Ruka pretends to be embarrassed as he glances away while fluttering his eyes, then his green emerald eyes stared at the bottle which at that point turn the other way, as did the butler.

'Hm… controlling men is easy… wow…' Ruka blinked and let loose a small smile.

"My daughter, Annie" Ruka's father pointed upward toward the ceiling, which indicated she was upstairs "Is under the curse of a ghost and is on her death bed!"

"Uh, there's nothing wrong with her life though…" their grandfather inputted.

"Anyway, we would like you to break the ghost's curse on my _daughter!_" his mother glanced over at Ruka and smiled.

"A ghost? Oh, one of those lower class evil beings. That's all? Fine, that's easy. But you must know. In order to benefit from me, the Evil king… One of you must make an evil agreement with me…"

'Why must it be evil… why can't it be just an agreement- wait, did he just say slave, servant and follower. Servant and follower, I can do… but slave… hm… I've heard of unpleasant things being done to slaves… correct that, nothing good at all, about being a slave… I hope he doesn't choose grandpa or grandma… or mom… dad, hm… No, no not even dad should become a slave… but that just leaves me… darn it…' Ruka hung his head down low.

"Really? Is that so…?" father didn't look too please…

"Yes, very so!"

"…" everyone was quiet…

"Alright. If that's what we have to do… to save my baby, I can… I can sell my soul to the devil! I'll sell my soul ten times over!" their father shouted with new found courage, and right behind him was Ruka's mother.

"Well, I… I'll sell mine, too!"

"Yup, me too!" their grandpa voiced, though a bit raspy and then their grandma's

"Uh huh, uh huh, that's right honey"

"Well, son?" Ruka's father turned to him, as did everyone else.

'So in between the jewels is where he can see… didn't I sniff him there… oh dear…clear those thoughts away' Ruka shook his head and replied.

"Aww, why not" Ruka muttered with no enthusiasm, rather, with his usual sarcastic drawl 'My family is a bunch of Satanist… sigh…'

"Huh? What did you say? Anyways… Great to hear that you can sell your soul too! That's my son! You are such a good boy!"

"Okay, okay…" 'I got it, sheesh, can't beat them, join them… in hell'

"Excellent! You're a brave boy! You are going to embark on such an interesting, I mean, a difficult and honorable burden! God, I'm so proud to have a brave son!"

'Father sounds like he already knows it's going to be me…hm…' Ruka narrowed his eyes… and for a brief flicker of a moment he thought he saw his father's eyes glowing gold behind his spectacles…

'Must be the lighting…' Of course there was nothing wrong with the light, but Ruka didn't seem to notice… much.

"Okay! It seems that you came to an agreement. Now! Everyone, could you stand in line here?" everyone got into a line, shortest to tallest, which meant Ruka was last.

"Now we are going to judge our very first Stan Cup Shadow Contest!"

Everyone clapped, even Ruka 'Meh, again, can't beat, join them…'

"300 years ago, the Great Evil King Gohma destroyed half the world; however, he was defeated by a hero. Lord Stan, who graces us with his devilish presence today… He is the reincarnation and the successor to the Great Evil King Gohma!"

"Yes, I have waited for 300 years in a bottle due to some deplorable error…" the bottle shook, probably from anger…

'Pollack, I would guess… wait… isn't that a fish…? Wait… why aren't I terrified by the fact he's the reincarnation of the devil that almost wiped out mankind? Must be the fact that he's in a bouncing purple bottle…' Ruka bit back a smile.

"At last, my powers of revival have been accumulated! All due to my indomitable endurance and effort! Oh, how great I am!"

'Narcissistic… I'll have to remember that… ah, I just condemned myself to being it's slave…' Ruka gasped, causing the bottle to puff out its 'chest'? It probably thought Ruka was amazed by its speech…

"That's my master! However, Master's magical power is only a fraction of what it once was. Until his complete revival, he must borrow a human shadow" James explained.

'So that's what he needs… wait… when I need to use the bathroom… Ew… Wait… I did it again!' Ruka smacked his head, causing a loud smacking sound to echo the room.

They all turned to him; he just shook his head to clear the dizziness.

"…However! Since it is the master haunting it, the shadow must be top class, too. Thus! I made special arrangements for this!" and suddenly two ghosts popped out from behind James.

'Isn't that white ghost the one who attacked Annie… no it couldn't be… could it…?' Ruka began to wonder, he narrowed his eyes and the white ghost flinched…

'Hm…'

"Ahem…" James tried to get Ruka's attention, and it worked.

"I invited shadow experts from the _**Diablerie**_! We are about to begin the first Stan Cup Shadow contest! Ladies and Gentlemen… Ready? Start casting!"

Then suddenly… a voice appeared. The bottle jumped, as did Ruka…

'Did Stan hear it too… maybe we'll get along… hm… then again, he's trying to take over the world… meaning… wait… what will he do to it… I don't know… why am I still talking to myself… and when did the line get so short…?' Ruka looked over to the glowing green pillar and the ghost spinning.

'Hehehe… the white one looks like it's getting dizzy' Ruka stifled a chuckle as his mother looked over to him and waved.

He waved back; suddenly the ghosts started saying something…

'Now if only I spoke ghost…' Ruka thought. If he had, he would have heard them say, let's hurry and get to the boy, it's he who we want…

"Hm, Madam, it's a near miss! There seems to be a slight problem in your figure. The judges apologize. You would have been perfect 5 years ago. But personally, I believe you are perfect!" MC James stated blushing.

'Ah… is he hitting on mom…? Well dad looks ticked off…' Ruka glanced at his father, then at his mother who looked weary.

"Oops, please excuse me. Now the last entry… Let me introduce the son, Ruka!'

'Well it's now or never…' Ruka stepped into the pillar and the ghosts start to spin and then after a minute, they started to talk to one another.

(**Translation!**)

"**Superb! We knew him to be near perfect**!" said the red ghost

"**But he's perfectly overshadowed… we were correct to trick this family**!"

(**Translation over~**)

"Wow! It's- It's a surprise! He won over all of the judges! Everyone gave him excellent marks! He has a perfect score! For the first Stan cup shadow contest the victory goes to Ruka! Congratulations! Congratulations!"

"You did it!" his mother cheered, Ruka couldn't see past the blinding green pillar of light that he missed the glow from his family's eyes.

"I am proud of you, boy!" he heard his grandfather shout, "Uh huh, uh huh. That's right honey"

"Well done Ruka! I have always believed in you!" his father shouted.

The disembodied voice/ narrator spoke of Ruka not being as happy as his family.

'You got that right…' Ruka responded to the voice, while shielding his eyes. That's when darkness suddenly seeped out of the bottle, but Ruka was too blinded to see it slither towards him.

When, BAM! The tall pointy eared shadow with big yellow eyes and gaping mouth that shone a glowing yellow light popped out from behind him, surprising him enough to knock him off his feet.

"Hm, this is an impressive shadow. Nothing like 3 years ago… I had a rough time then. Yes, this will do very nicely"

'If shadows could smirk… wait it can talk of course it can smirk…' Ruka thought.

"Now, what's your name, um, Ruka?" it asked looking down at the boy.

Ruka nodded dumbly.

"From now on you must work as my servant, slave, and subordinate! Are you ready!" it shouted, more of a command, than a question.

"Enough about that. What about my daughter, Annie…" Ruka heard his father asked.

'Strange… father seems, off… and why is it still grinning when someone just interrupted it… I would think he'd be nonplus about that…'

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. Now, let me show you! The awesome power of Evil King Stan!"

'Boastful isn't he… ah I said he… I guess it's a he… Stan sounds like a man's name… king is male… if not he'd say queen… I said he again didn't I… well shadow or not, Stan is now a he' Ruka thought as they made their way to Annie's room.

There, everyone seemed to snap out of a daze or something… their mother came up behind Ruka and hugged him, when Ruka smiled wearily his mother relaxed, all the while Stan was doing something to Annie, but not touching her, just chanting something, or saying something…

"Well, that's all. Wake up girl!" Stand ordered, Annie stood up and said something,

"Huh? What happened to me? Oh my god, I'm cured! I can speak like a normal person!" she cheered.

"Annie, oh Annie! Oh thank you so much!" their mom thanked Stan as she hugged Annie, in turn sandwiched Ruka to Annie, whom didn't seem to mind.

"Oh Annie! I knew I was right! Hahaha, I'm so glad!" their father then too hugged, and squished his wife into his son into his daughter…

"Ugh…" both children groaned.

"Are you alright? Annie… Huh? Annie, your shadow" their grandfather asked.

"Wah, aba mah shado" everyone let go and looked down…

"OH NO! My shadow turned pink! I can't believe it!" Annie was angry. She turned to glare at Stan.

"Hm, it seems that I made a slight miscalculation" though he stated with a eerie glowing grin.

"Oh no! I cannot go outside with a shadow like this! I'll never get married!" she cried, their mother tried to sooth her.

"Shut up. I promised to break the curse, but I didn't say that I wouldn't turn your shadow pink"

'There it was again… that smirk… or maybe he just perpetually grins like that…' Ruka stared, Stan looked at him and asked.

"What?" Ruka looked away without answering, and Stan frowned and growled.

'I guess not…'

"Ahaha… T-That's my master! Your logic is wonderfully evil!" James boasted.

'It seems, Stan can be scary when mad… hm… but will he hurt me… his perfect host… okay that sounded narcissistic… he's rubbing off on me…' Ruka scooted away to comfort Annie who was screaming and crying.

"Oh no! Why me! My shadow!" then that voice again… Ruka looked at Stan who just smirked…

'I think I've been tricked…' Later that night after everyone calmed Annie down and their mother tucked her in, they all went to bed.

Ruka without a second thought just climbed into bed and fell fast asleep…

But woke up just a few hours later with a _**THUMP!**_

**TBC...**__

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><p><em><em>**KH: _Ruka just got tricked... then again, what's new?_**

Well, it was sorta long, so I'm gonna split this into two parts each chapter, so perhaps 14 chapters in total, since there is only 7 chapters?


	3. Boy meets King Part 2

**Ruka to Maou**

**Summary:** In the prelude

**Main Pairing:** Stan x Ruka

**Other Pairings:** Undecided, life is fickle, let the characters be fickle.

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Game

**Disclaimer:** Okage © of Zenner Works, therefore I own nothing!

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><p><strong>Thanks to the reviews!<strong>

**Thanks xxOjou Kagexx for the reviews**. Don't worry. If you have questions ask away. Nope, Stan can hear the narrations too, so Ruka isn't the only one.

Yup, those are all the choices in the game, well not all of them. Some of the choices I didn't mention, and those a pretty silly, like the stealthy aren't I?

Well, they didn't ignore him in the game, just ignore what he had to say, so he's still overshadowed… But he's really got something else up his sleeve, though he doesn't know it himself!

Hahaha, yeah, I took physics when I wrote this, um, the mind reading probably won't be a reoccurring theme cause I kinda write what I hear, and I haven't heard it in a while.

And lastly, well that's the story, I think Stan and the ghost are in cahoots in the game, since it kept hinting that Stan could be outside his bottle, and that the ghost started to appear just after they had access to the bottle…?

I hope I answered all of your questions, if you have more you can PM me, or write it in a review!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Boy meets King <strong>_**Part 2**_

'A nightmare… at my age… ugh, my head… and why do I always fall on my head?' he questioned as he got up from the hard wooden floor while rubbing the side of his head. 'Wait… a nightmare about my shadow coming to life and attacking me…'He headed down to the basement.

The room was brightly lit, all the furniture down there was covered in a white dusty sheet a few boxes of strange bottles here and there, and a multitude of old photographs, but what caught his attention was the ideogram on the floor…

'Not a dream… damn…' he wearily watched his shadow as he walked back upstairs and into the kitchen.

"Hi honey!" he was greeted by the cheerful voice of his mother. "Want some breakfast?" Ruka shook his head. "Oh you look so pale Ruka… a nightmare?" she asked.

'Oh, I wish it were one, but sadly…it's a living nightmare' he nodded solemnly.

"Oh, don't let it bother you, it's a nice day out, why don't you go down to the village and have some fun?" she suggested.

'Fresh air will do me some good…' he nodded and headed out.

Stretching once he got outside he heard a voice… no not the voice he usually heard a different one,

"Hmm. Well, it _was_ a dream. I am the same old ordinary boy. What a relief!" Ruka turned about trying to locate the voice.

"That's what you're thinking, isn't it! ?"

'No, not really…'

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! TOO BAD!" _**BAM **_Stan popped out his shadow knocking him to the ground.

"This is nothing but reality! You are the obedient servant of the Evil King Stan, forever! Hehehehehehe… We'll be together for a long while, boy! Get used to it! Hahahaha!" his deep voice sent a shiver down Ruka's back… Suddenly James popped out of the ground in a blinding light.

'Sigh, why are their entrances never subtle… if I get a heart attack, will it benefit them? I don't think so…' Ruka rolled his eyes as he got up, dusting himself off.

"Oh Master Stan. It's a fragrant morning isn't it! ?"

'I guess… being trapped in a bottle for 300 years… plus 3, would make him consider this dusty morning fragrant, wouldn't it… especially if he's been trapped with another person… no wonder the bottle smelled moldy… I wonder if shadows bathe… ah bad thoughts GO AWAY!' Ruka shook his head violently.

"W-What's wrong with you slave! ?" Stan stared at Ruka who now stopped shaking and looked up at Stan with those deep green eyes, and he then just turned away ignoring Stan.

"Grr…" Ruka heard Stan grumble…

"Uh, h-how about breakfast, Master? Madam's omelet is the best"

'True mom's cooking is great~' Ruka smiled at James, who flushed.

"…James… we don't have time for breakfast" it sounded as though Stan was pouting…

Ruka chuckled.

With another grumble Stan proceeded "From now on, I'll use this…_boy_… and initiate my plan for world conquest!"

'I don't think he'd get very far…' apparently Ruka had forgotten that Stan and his butler had hypnotize his family… will he remember…?

"To begin, I'll drive the nearby village of Tenel into… An abyss of nightmarish horror! Hahahaha!"

'Over my dead body…' Ruka narrowed his eyes.

"I'm so proud of you Master Stan! So proud to be in your fiendish service. Your James is always at your side with passionate devotion! At least, after I finish my omelet"

'… That's devotion?' Ruka blinked, while arching a brow.

"Well. Off to the village slave! Let us go!" Stan ordered and disappeared into Ruka's shadow.

"Good luck Master! Hurrah! For Master!" James cheered.

"Uh, James…" Ruka called out.

"Yes?" James turned to the small redhead with the blue headband.

"If you want, you can have my omelet too. I'll be out all morning by the looks of it" Ruka smiled, James flushed and nodded as he went off.

Ruka heard a grumble, and it wasn't his stomach… Chuckling to himself, Ruka went off to the village talking to people along the way.

The curious villager whom was always curious asked about Ruka's new trick, saying that his father had told everyone about it.

'Good going dad, you warned everyone! W-wait… trick?'

Stan popped out and asked with enthusiasm you see when looking at a child at the circus (excluding Ruka) Ruka just blinked at this and smiled.

"Cool, how did you do that?" the curious villager asked.

"Do what… humans perplex me sometimes" Stan stated and went back into Ruka's shadow. Ruka had to chuckle, but then he spotted an old lady who seemed troubled.

Apparently her favorite hat her late husband, meaning now dead husband, got blown into a tree… Ruka was contemplating on climbing the tree… 'I've never been good in P.E sigh…' he rubbed his hands together to get ready to climb when Stan popped up and goaded, or at least tried to…

"Heh heh heh, whimpering old lady. What powerless animals human beings are! Ruka, let me show you my power!"

'Is Stan trying to impress me' Ruka blinked, but just nodded, and with that Stan stretched up and grabbed hold of the hat.

"I am completely elastic, like this! It's a trivial task to retrieve your lost hat!" Stan tossed at Ruka, whom caught it and gently handed to the old lady. Ruka looked to Stan who was grinning again.

"Oh, thank you very much! You must have been sent from heaven!" the lady stated causing both Stan and Ruka to go wide-eyed.

"Hey old bag! You don't understand! I am pure evil, through and through! Evil King Stan! The name says it all! Da ha ha! Fear me! Kneel and grovel before me!"

"Oh thank-you god" she knelt down and bowed. Ruka at this point was shaking from containing his laughter, while trying to help the old lady up. In the end he was bowing too.

"No, not like that! Not you too slave!"

"Thank-you god…" she stated again all watery-eyed. After helping her up properly and breathing again, Ruka made his way over to the cross road, though he was still giggling slightly.

There he met a girl who told him that he had an awesome shadow and had wanted to see it

"Wow it can talk too, is it alive?" she asked.

"Hey girlie! What do you think I am! I am the Evil King Stan, a symbol of incomprehensible evil, everywhere!"

"Wow! It tells jokes too! Oh, I want one too!"

And with that Stan sulked back into Ruka's shadow.

'I'm starting to feel sorry for him…' Ruka thought when a boy pulled him over.

"Hey Ruka, show me your shadow, oh please!"

"Um… Well…" without letting Ruka decline the boy, Stan just popped out.

"Shut up small fry! Gaze upon my horrifying visage and feat it! Cry, pee your pants!"

'… Pee his pants…? …Ew…' Ruka's eye twitched.

"Yippee! The shadow! The funny shadow! I saw it! Cool Ruka!"

Again Stan is shocked.

'Hasn't he learned his lesson yet… no one's afraid of him… I guess… I'm not either… hm' Ruka blinked as he made his way to Tenel again… but was stopped by another random person.

"Well well, what a great trick! Ruka, you can get a job at a circus!"

'Gee thanks…'

"I didn't know you had such as skill! I've changed my opinion of you, Ruka!"

'Again thanks…' Ruka tried to quickly walk away before Stan could pop out… But then there was that boy who blocked the gates to Tenel…

By the looks of it he was waiting to jump Ruka…'Today isn't your day Stan… sigh…'

"Hi, you are the famous shadow! Nice to meet you!"

"Don't get fresh with me, you suckling! Do you know who you are talking to! ?"

"Hahahaha, you shy boy! Ruka's father told me, you're a kind gentle shadow!"

'Dad… sorry Stan, but once dad gets it in his head and spreads it… it's contagious… poor guy…'

"Arrrggghhh… UNFORGIVABLE!"

'Wow, calm down or you'll pop a vein… wait he's a shadow, he doesn't have veins…'

"Hahaha, it's funny that you're shy! Why don't you be my friend? Hahaha!"

Once they get to the gate, Stan pops out, still sulking.

"Strange, strange… according to my plan, as soon as I appear in this world… humans should be awed, terrified, and flee in every direction…"

'… then why didn't we run away… when you popped out of the bottle… am I not human?' Ruka blinked twice and went back to listen to Stan ramble.

"And while quaking with fright they are supposed to swear obedience! But, but-" Stand shook "Look at their reactions!"

"That is strange…" 'I'll keep his ego up for him… that's the least I can do, after all my dad's the one who ruined his image…meh~' Ruka thought smiling.

"Yes! Then the only thing we have to do is display my evilness through action and let humans know what terror I can bring!"

'Hopefully reversible or I'm a traitor to all mankind… then again, I might not be human…' Ruka just nodded.

Stan had actually waited for that response and then declared "Now, let us get going slave! We will drive the village of Tenel into horror and despair!" and with that Ruka opened the gates and entered.

"So this is Tenel village? This is it! ? This is no task for I, a vessel of pure malevolence! But hey, I might as well do it, haha!" Ruka chuckled along with him, and that seemed to make Stan float up taller.

"Now, how shall I go about this? Slave" Ruka looked up "first gather information. It's essential for proper subjugation. Remember that!" Ruka nodded and jogged off into the nearest shop, which was the meat shop.

When he question the man, the butcher told him he couldn't keep his store open because there was no water…but it was a tradition so… he bought back the meat he sold Ruka two days ago…

'Ugh, I forgot about it in my pack… why in the world would he want it back… oh well I got ten more sukels than when I have bought it…'

Next off he talked to the villagers out in the open since none of the other shops were open due to the lack of water…

'What's up with the signs on the doors… they aren't going to get business that way, that's for sure… with signs that say I'm sleeping cause there's no water, we don't get guest anyways, so I don't care, and the last one about that threat… but I have to wonder who turned off the water…?' then Ruka overhead a villager talk about a ghost.

'Or what…' so he went over to investigate like a good subordinate would. 'Can ghost even turn a handle? I know shadows apparently can…'

"Oh Ruka," it turns out the man who was talking about was the village's scaredy cat…

'Oh well, might have some news I could use'

"Did you hear? Something terrible is happening! Oh, good heavens, this is terrible!"

"Mwahahaha! I knew it! The dark raging fire that is my unyielding evil freezes his soul."

'… fire… freezing? Doesn't he mean melt… wait to melt someone would be, to make them love you… he means cold hearted malice. That's it…'

"A perfectly normal reaction, Hahahaha!"

'Now that I think about it… no one here is normal… of course, what is normal?'

"Wha…? What's this? Hey nice trick" the scared man grinned…

'Whoa, now that's scary… sorry Stan, but this guy is way scarier than you' Ruka looks back and forth between the scared man and Stan.

"Anyways, I don't care about that. I've got to tell you! There's a ghost in the church!"

"Hey!" Stan interjected.

"You are scared of some low rank evil being and not scared of me, Evil King Stan? ! Fool human!"

"Brrr, scary! The ghost must be eyeing the treasure that's stored deep within the Church!"

'Oh… that old glass tube er… bulb thing… didn't my great, great, grandfather put it there because there was too much junk at our house…?' Ruka thought, squinting trying to remember.

"Hey, don't ignore the Evil King here! Humans truly have no sense!- What? A treasure? What treasure?"

"They say it's an important treasure! If we ever lose it, our village is finished! Oh no that would be terrible!"

'He's exaggerating… but Stan looks happy… I don't want to burst his bubble'

"…Hehehe… Did you hear that slave? We're in business. We'll get the village's treasure and laugh as they wallow in misery. Hehe if it's indeed an important treasure, it must be something that can enhance my evil power… Hehehe, I can hardly wait to have it in my grasp!"

'Oh Stan… poor, poor Stan… hm, maybe I can find him something at our house… there's bound to be a power enhancing charm somewhere…maybe in the tower'

Stan was bent on getting to the treasure, having both forgotten about the ghost, Ruka went to ask others on how to gain entrance into the church.

Apparently the church was off-limits, but with special permission from the village office they could enter.

'Easy, dad's the assistant manager… and with him convinced Stan is friendly… sigh poor Stan' Ruka thought as he went off to ask his dad for the keys. But Ruka was feeling a little famished, so he stopped by the other shop and bought some nuts, meanwhile visiting the old man in the back, whom was a rival of his grandfather for his grandmother's love.

Ruka loved hearing stories of his family, they were all so interesting. The old man in the end gave him 10 sukels.

Upon entrance into the town hall, Ruka's father asked "Hey Ruka, come to see your cool dad at his job?"

Stan then popped up saying "Open the Church door. Hurry lowly being! Open the door immediately!"

"Hi Stan! What brings you to the Church?" Ruka's dad asked happily.

"It's not much of a business. Nothing much, at all. Hehehe…" Ruka's father looked to Ruka who was all smiles, so he thought nothing of it and handed them the keys. Stan popped back into Ruka's shadow,

'Must be tiring to be floating… hm… does floating require energy?'

Arriving at the church Stan popped out again "Now let's go slave. We'll get the hidden treasure and they will kneel before our dark might!"

Ruka nodded and twist the key, he was about to push open the door when they both heard someone call out "Oh, please wait, Master!"

Ruka recognizing the voice, braced himself when turning around, and in a flurry of light and dark appeared James.

"No master you don't need to clue me in, I know it's a delightfully evil plan Master! However there is one thing… Ruka, you're a rookie and-"

"I will try my best not to get in Master Stan's way for I am weak and helpless, I understand" Ruka stated with one hand resting assure and with a smile.

"R-right, well I'm off, good luck" James was dumbfounded.

"That's good that you know slave, now let's go" Stan ordered, and Ruka nodded.

Entering the Church, Ruka spotted no ghost… 'Must be in the basement…'

As they were walking down the stairs to the basement, all was quiet, until,

"Slave!"

"!" That scared Ruka, he slipped and landed on his bum. 'Well at least it wasn't my head this time…' Ruka look up to see Stan hovering over him.

"Be careful, your shadow is precious to me now…" Stan warned him.

'It was your fault…' Ruka glowered and then stood up looking away.

"Slave!"

'What now…?' Ruka turned to Stan.

"…Why don't you speak?"

"?" Ruka arched an eyebrow.

"…" Stan waited for the answer…

"Are you giving me permission to speak?"

"YES!"

"Oh, well… okay" Ruka shrugged.

"…Well, why don't you speak? !" Stan asked incredulously.

'Hm… Maybe I can use this to my advantage…' "Well… are slaves supposed to talk back to their masters?" Ruka asked, choosing his words wisely.

"No… but I give you permission…" then Stan muttered "I can't see why you'd speak to James so informally, but not to I, your master…"

'Ah… he's jealous… hahaha' Ruka smiled, and turned away, "Well, let's get going Master Stan, the lower being is awaiting your punishment"

"Right! Onward slave!" Stan shouted with new vigor.

Upon opening the door, Ruka looks into the room and spots crates and a water pipe with a valve.

'That's it, the water channels will open if I turn that… ah… there it is… a red ghost' Ruka looked up to Stan, perhaps to translate what the booing ghost was saying.

Stan… not having James with him, had no idea what the ghost was actually saying.

(Ghost will be bolded)

"**Hm, where am I? I'm lost again**"

"So, you're the third class demon who stands in the way of my ambition! Step back! Keep your head low!" Stan proclaimed.

"**!** **Whoa, what a weird shadow!**"

"Hahaha! Look at it slave! This low rank demon, he cowers before my divine dark power!"

'It looks like it's laughing…' Ruka thought to himself.

"**Oh boy, this is too funny! What a weird shadow!**"

"Ah, I see. You want to pledge allegiance to me?" Stan asked, grinning.

"**Getting hungry… He's weak-looking. He'll do**"

'…why is it looking at me like that…? I have a bad feeling…' Ruka thought, then turned to the grinning Stan.

"Yes, very good. Once you become my follower, your existence will be devoted to me!"

"Uh, S-Stan"

"What slave?" Stan asked pausing in his gloating to look down at a nervous Ruka.

"I-it looks hungry…"

"What-? What do you mean it looks-"

"**Time to chow!**" and with that… the ghost attacked.

'Ah!' Ruka jumped back and pulled out a… branch?

-Fight scene-

The ghost transformed into three demons, a tricky ghost and two perky frogs.

Ruka performed overdrive and knocked out the tricky ghost first, got attacked by the two perky frogs… but then used burst mode and annihilated them…

"Well… that was strange. Oh well, never mind. I did get rid of that floor-scrubbing demon who turned against me!" Stan laughed.

'You… ? Whatever… at least they were weak…' Ruka thought shaking his head; he then spotted the treasure chest.

"Mmm? Look slave! That must be the treasure, that the villager were talking about!" Stan pointed. Walking over to the chest, Ruka knelt down and acquired the 'Odd Glass Tube' and that music played.

"Do you hear that…?" Ruka asked looking around.

"Yes… don't question it slave, you'll be hearing it more soon…don't ask why I know…"

'!' Ruka looked to Stan with wide eyes.

"What is this? It's just a piece of a broken machine! Grrr! They've tricked me! They will all pay for this! My wrath will know no end boy!" and with that Stan popped back into Ruka's shadow before he could say anything…

'…strange… ah the water line!' Ruka walked over to the pipe, he got atop a box and turned the valve to open, the sounds of water flowing made him need to use the restroom…

'Oh man, I gotta go!' with that Ruka rushed out of the church, only to be stopped by the villagers…

"Good work Ruka! Way to go!" "Thanks, that was great!" "Ruka! Turn this way for me!" "How did you get rid of the ghosts? Let's hear it, Ruka!" "Yeah, tell us how, Ruka!" "Ruka, hey there, Ruka!"

'Oh man… I gotta pee…' Ruka couldn't think straight anymore, that's when,

"Grrr, they've got it all wrong! It was all my doing! Evil King Stan is the proper target of your affection! Oh well, this is good timing. They are all assembled to receive the wisdom I shall bestow upon them!" and with that rant Stan popped out.

"Listen here, villagers! I am the reincarnation of the Evil King Gohma, the Evil King of darkness, Stan!"

"What? What's going on?" a villager asked.

"Say, isn't that…" another villager voiced.

'Oh… can this take much longer…?' Ruka twitched.

"Now that I've returned to this world, all that walks, flies, or crawls shall be my subjects! As a reward for your willing subjugation, I shall grant you insects a long delightful purgatory! I hereby declare, I will saturate this land with black cloud of astounding malevolence!" thrusting his stick arm/fork looking hands, "My plague of evil will infect every corner of this world! Bow before your lord and master, Evil King Stan!" Silence soon followed.

"Aha! They're speechless!" Stan gloated.

'Good, done, right!' Ruka was just about to run off when,

"….Ha ha…"

'What… oh they're laughing… I'll inflate his ego later… I got to-' Ruka was trapped by the laughing villagers

"HAHAHAHA!" "Hahahaha this is too much!" "Ruka! I didn't know you were such a riot!" "Oh wow, this is good! I'm gonna die laughin'!" "This shadow trick of yours is pretty slick!" "Hey, make sure to do a repeat performance at the Festival, ya?" Everyone pushed and kept Ruka in place, in the middle of the horde of laughing villagers.

"…" 'I need to go…'

"Hahaha, Evil King Stan, did you say? That's priceless! Hahahaha!" "Ruka, enough of the jokes now. Don't you need to be at home studying?" someone asked.

"Y-yes, sure" Ruka was about to leave when Stan shouted,

"Hey, you peasants, what are you laughing at! ? My great decree is to be taken seriously!"

'I need to go, seriously!' Ruka hopped.

"You, that one there, stop laughing! Ah, slave, stop hopping! No one is going to take me seriously!" Stan shouted.

'No one was taking you seriously anyways…' Ruka thought as he did the potty dance, making everyone laugh even more…

"Hahaha! He just keeps on going!" "Hahaha! Please… Hahaha, stop, my ha stomach. Hahaha hurts!"

'Your stomach hurts! ?' Ruka thought, when Stan and he heard the voice again.

'This is your idea of joy… what kind of inner voice are you! ?'

Finally after everyone left, Ruka found a nearby bush…

'I can't believe I went in front of Stan… oh well he's too busy ranting to have noticed'

"Why? Aghh! I don't understand! Why! ? I am the Evil King! A harbinger of impending doom! Yet the humans mock me… They even laugh at me! I'm so humiliated! What am I… What am I supposed to do? Am I a failure as Evil King? Am I a hopeless Evil King? Aggghhhh!"

'I should tell him he isn't… but I don't think he'd want my pity… I'll just keep quiet…'

"I'm tired. I'll rest for a while…" Stan declared and disappeared.

'Hm… I haven't seen the elder in the crowd… I wonder what he's up to? He doesn't think anyone sees, but I see strange people coming and going to his home… I'll visit him' and with that Ruka left down the stairs and turned left into the elder's home, his room was on the left, if Ruka remembered correctly.

"Ruka, well done. I always thought that you were a promising youth" said the Chinese looking elder, "You can even make people laugh with your shadow… Alright! I've made up my mind! Here, I'm going to give you this. This is a cyphertext created by a secret society I belong to.

Ruka has acquired 'Cyphertext 1' and the music played, and listening to Stan's previous advice, Ruka didn't freak out.

'Cyphertext 1: Sdnuorg eht ot og s'tel ereh si sucric eht' Ruka pondered…

"Can you solve the mystery of the Cyphertext? If you successfully solve the mystery, you can join our team!" the elder exclaimed and then went back to writing in his journal.

'Knew he had a secret… wait, didn't he tell me about the evil shadow kings before… why would he be encourage to give me this when I'm possibly possessed by one…?' Ruka thought as he left the house, pondering about the text… when it hit him 'It's backwards…' with that he reflected the text in a window and it read 'the circus is here let's go to the grounds… I'll have to remember to visit there… later'

'Well, the shops are open now aren't they?' Ruka mused, and spotted the tinker shop, a blacksmith, the man was always nice to Ruka. 'I'll visit' and with that entered the shop.

The blacksmith's little cousin told Ruka that his grandpa use to forge swords until he hurt his back.

'No wonder it's hunched over like that… of course grandma is too isn't she…?' Ruka was puzzled, he went over to the blacksmith to listen to his stories.

"Hey Ruka, you've done it! You're really something! Here at the blacksmith, we make and sell weapons and protective gear. Well, this might not be the place to find items for every occasion. Hmm, let's see. Ah, this 'Fruit Knife' should do. Take this! Great for eating fruit!"

'I would have never guessed…' Ruka smiled as he took it, and there the music played again.

"Sorry it's not something cooler… Oops, I've got to get going now. Back to work!"

Ruka waved and left…

'Uh… I'm still hurting from the frogs… maybe resting is a good idea…' there Ruka spotted the inn. After hearing the landlord's speech about needing water to serve food because they only have guests every 2-3 years. Why, because Tenel is so remote.

Ruka, already knowing what to do he chose to rest upstairs and save in the registry at the desk, on his way out he noticed a door, the fortuneteller always stayed at the inn.

'Might as well since I'm here'

A short woman with a pink bag over her head, waving her hands like she wiping an invisible glass pane said,

"Greetings, I'm the gypsy fortune teller. There's a reason I can't reveal my real name, but 'Love Fortune Teller Master No. 1' is what most people call me. Just one look at the crystal and I'll identify exactly who loves you the most. So, would you like me to tell your fortune of love?"

"Yes please!" Ruka replied 'She asks this every time and if there's no enthusiasm in my voice… she never tells me anything…'

"Here we go! Hey! Hey! Hey! Show me, my crystal ball! Ah, it's come to me! You are matched best with… whoah! With the Evil King, Stan! ? Noooo! Keep away from me!" she shrieked.

"…" 'Wh-at…? There has to be a mistake… Stan loves me the most… gee thanks mom and dad!'

"Well… come again soon…" she hid behind a small table with a blue vase; that contained red flowers in them. Ruka waved goodbye and left the inn.

He was about to go home for dinner, because he didn't want to eat out 'Waste of money…' he thought when he noticed the entrance gate of the village being blocked off by the village scaredy-cat…

"SCARY!"

'Yes… yes you are' Ruka smiled.

"Nothing could be scarier than this…"

'You're right!' Ruka beamed, causing the man to lose his momentum,

"Uh…A-all of a sudden, in spots all over the world, a bunch of Evil Kings appeared! Really, seriously, this is scary!"

"…" 'What…? So Stan has siblings…?'

"Bah!" and right on cue Stan appeared "Enough of your whimpering! I'm tired and mentally wounded. And now this rubbish from you! Listen up. The Evil King is the King of Evil And a King is a King. That means only one! Not two or three, one! Moi!"

'Make sense…' Ruka nodded 'Wait… Did he just speak French…?' Ruka turned to the steaming shadow.

"No, I'm not making this up. The pudgy guy at the bar said son. The word is that in certain places… copies of the 'Map o' Evil Kings' are out. It tells the locations of the Evil Kings. Brrrrr, just so scary!" the man shivered.

'Pudgy man…? Wait, it can't be…but he's at a bar… It's probably him…' Ruka narrowed his eyes, he was kind of hoping it was that man, last time he met him he was drunk and spouting nonsense…

"Hogwash! 'Map o' Evil Kings'! ? Are you kidding? Slave! Find the lunatic who's spreading these lies! He will pay for this!" Ruka nodded,

'This is getting interesting…'

Ruka then headed for the Bar, and was stopped by many whom wanted to give their thanks.

Ruka upon entering the bar was greeted by the bar lady, she complained about the ring master.

'Knew it…' Ruka thought, 'Wait regular guest… doesn't he have to travel with the circus… didn't they leave already…' and soon Ruka got his answer…

Having walked up to the man and poking him, he heard the man mutter,

"…Weee. Ugh…. Stupid Troopers, leaving without me… Burp!"

"So this is the lowlife who's spreading that swill. Hey you! I hear you've been spreading tall tales that there's more than one Evil King!" Stan shouted in a booming voice, but Ruka was use to it.

"Wh-what?..." the ringmaster turned around, "Oh? You're the one I saw the other night, the kid with that shadow!"

"Yeah, at the circus…" Ruka replied stepping back, the man reeked of booze…

"Yep, that's right. I'm the Ringmaster"

'I wouldn't have guessed… especially after everyone telling me…' Ruka nodded; exasperated that everyone was so oblivious… 'Of course his excuse would be that he's drunk, what's Stan's…?'

"Now that I get to take a good look, you've got an interesting shadow with ya' there"

"Interesting? Carrying with him?" Stan asked narrowing his gold eyes

'He never did say carrying with him…' Ruka narrowed his eyes, in mock protest…

"Agghh, fine, whatever!"

'Oi, did Stan just read my mind…' Ruka panicked and stared up at Stan, who began ranting again.

"Just you remember, husky one! If a guy like you speaks of rubbish like a 'Map o' Evil Kings' I may shut your mouth permanently!"

"Oh? You want this 'Map o' Evil Kings'? Sure thing, here it is"

'How does he have this…?' Ruka took it, and the song played…

'Item acquired… therefore this is the item acquired song… cool' Ruka smiled up at the ceiling, forgetting his previous question. The ringmaster broke him out of his thoughts.

"Lately they say that in Madril, a fearful Evil King's showed up, too! I swear, this is true. Hahaha, this is so funny!" the man wavered, staggering around on his feet. "What are you gonna do, Shadow Evil King?"

"!" Ruka looked shocked 'Who is he…?'

"Curses! You just revealed who I… Who are you shaggy one! ?"

'… Stan is a mind reader…' Ruka thought 'Ruka don't think…'

"Ugh.I think I'm gonna… barf. …Agh, too much fun last night. Hic…" the man rubbed his belly.

'I think I'm gonna leave… while my shoes are still clean…' Ruka thought and rushed out, but was stopped by Stan.

"Hey boy, wait. Why don't we take a look at that 'Map o' Evil Kings; right now?" Ruka nodded and took it out.

"Eh, what is this? 1, 2 … There are more Evil Kings than myself? And on top of that… My name's not even on here! James, James! Where are you! ?" Stan shouted in fury.

WAAM! In a flash of light that emitted from the floor, James appeared.

"Like the setting sun, the glistening moon, Oh, Master. How might I serve?"

'I wonder who he was hitting on… better not be my mom…' Ruka pouted at the dead butler causing James to flush and Stan to growl even more than before.

"James! Straighten this out, will you? Am I not the one and the only Evil King? The successor of the great Evil King Gohma? !" Stan glared down poor James.

"Come on, answer me! Who else could I be?" Stan thrashed about. "And all these other Evil Kings, who are they! ?"

"Hmmm… Well, Master I will tell you. These others are imposters. Encroachers, Evil Kings only in name. While you were inside the bottle, Master, they must have stolen your magical power…" James explained trying to calm down the raging shadow.

"And went about claiming to be Evil Kings. Yes, that must be it!"

"….. Hmmm." Stan thought for a moment, "I see. I knew something was wrong. The villager called me, my dark majesty, a 'nice guy'! Naturally, if my power were at its peak, they would have wept and groveled before me. Yes, that must be it! So it was all their doing! These self-proclaimed Evil Kings were stealing my magical power!" Stan looked to Ruka.

"Yes, that must be it!" Ruka nodded smiling, while inwardly he was dying 'Sigh…that means more running around and fighting … here we go again… weee…'

"…Hmm. Then there's just one thing to do. Yes, good! You see it as clearly as I"

"Master, that means… Of course, of course!" James bellowed, even though he had nary a clue at what Stan was talking about…

"Indeed! We're going to take those phony Evil Kings and get back all of my dark power! Then the whole world will tremble and kneel before me as they rightfully should! Slave, let's do this! An expedition of conquest!" Stan shouted.

"Sure, let's rock!" 'Why did I shout that… strange…?'

"What kind of answer is that?"

"Take it easy now, Master. This girl Julia, she has a bit of a crush on your slave…"

"Hold your horses Sir James!" Ruka shouted scaring both demons.

"Julia is a friend… only a friend…" Ruka growled.

"R-Right… you're stuck with me, Ahahaha!" Stan laughed.

'Wait… what… that's not the same thing, James was accusing of Julia being my lov-… oh dear…' Ruka stepped back a few steps away from his shadow… which followed him…

"Onward to your house slave, we have to pack for our adventure. That 'Map o' Evil Kings' it so irritates me. But don't lose it! It should keep us on the trail of those upstart imposters! Alright, then. To your house!"

Ruka just nodded and headed that way, with that James left in a flash of light, though the bar owner seemed calm enough…she was shaking.

Again, upon reaching the gate, someone else blocks it…

'ARGH!' Ruka inwardly screams, but remained stoic on the outside as he walked up to said person.

"Julia…" he stated calmly.

"….. I have something to tell you"

"Yes…" Ruka replied. She walked passed him and stopped,

"I liked you"

"-" 'She liked… as in past tense…oh well…'

"But, you're serious, honest and quiet"

'Serious and quiet… yes… honest… not really' Ruka inwardly grinned.

"The kind that becomes a husband who'd eat cold mashed potatoes without complaining… or lets me go on rampant impulse shopping sprees without complaining. That's what I liked about you…"

Ruka turned to her, 'Husband… now hold on there…, wait, cold mash potatoes, yes, I like it cold… the shopping spree… not so much… and I never said I liked her… why won't anyone listen…?' Ruka was again astounded by the density within Tenel's residents… no normal brain function?

"But I can't be with a person who does tricks with his shadow. Good-bye!" she shouted dramatically and ran off…

'Okay… what just happened…? I was just going home, and I got hooked into this… this drama… why?' Ruka thought long and hard, and then decided 'I better go home before someone else keeps me here…' and then there was the voice.

'Yes… dumbstruck I am…' he shook it off and went home, after dinner and a hot bath, though he rushed out when he remembered Stan…, he finally went to bed and slept oh so well. That is until his mother came to wake him…

"Ruka. Come on, wake up. Its morning" she opened the door and came inside. "Well, it's a beautiful day today, too! Come on, Ruka. Everybody's waiting for you downstairs.

"Okay…" he groggily got out of bed.

"Both your dad and Gramps are preparing something for you. We're waiting for you. Come down as soon as possible."

After getting up, and getting dressed, again, totally forgetting Stan was there stripped out of his PJs and into his normal day clothes, which consisted of his trademark dark blue and light blue striped long shirt, and his grey vest. And also into his beige pants with the red and pink checkerboard mark on the bottom cuffs, and lastly his grey and blue stripped fingerless gloves, and red and blue, but mostly blue plaid head band (though it looks like the ones girls wear), it kept his auburn hair from sticking up like a roosters.

Walking lethargically to the door he closes it and walks down the hall, and then down the stairs in their living room, that's when he noticed his whole family and an extra person/ specter, waiting for him just in front of the stairs. So he rushed over to see what that was about.

"Ruka! Finally, the time has come for you to depart!" his father exclaimed throwing his arms up in excitement.

"What's going on?" Ruka asked, scratching his head.

"Yes, when I heard it from James I was surprised, but you are going on an important journey. A journey to subjugate fake Evil Kings and to conquer the world! Well it sounds great! I couldn't help but agree!" His father prattled on while Ruka blinked, trying to digest the information, though it was still barely 6 am during his summer vacation time… Ruka's brain was dead.

"Hey middle manager, the slave seems to be confused" Stan spoke up on Ruka's behalf; Ruka unintentionally leaned on Stan… literally and to everyone else's fascination, didn't fall through…

"Huh? Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell him. A little mistake! Hahaha!" His father laughed, though it just gave him a headache…

"Then let me update you. I told you yesterday that there're many fakes claiming they're Evil Kings around the world. I, the genuine Evil King and my slave…" Stan placed a claw like shadow hand on Ruka's head, "That is you, are leaving on a journey to subjugate these imposters! And I thought we might as well conquer the world while we're at it"

'Ah, so that's what this is about…' Ruka looked to the floor near the staircase and spotted his bag was packed filled with clothes and some food…

"Are you ready? Don't dally now! Let us be gone…now!"

'Well, mom has packed for me already… might as well…'

"Okay" Ruka shrugged.

"Fine. Let us go, slave!" Stan pointed to the door.

"Hey, wait a minute. Ruka, you have to say goodbye to everyone in the family first" his father pronounced, "Its normal before you go on a journey~!"

So he did so, his grandfather told him about the item he got from the church, which he had forgotten all about, seems it's a piece of a voice recorder… since it was kept in the village it was important, and to find the other pieces…

'Seems ominous… of something bad to come…' Ruka thought as he hugged his grandfather and went to go say goodbye to his granny and then his grandmother said,

"Uh huh, uh huh. That's right, honey. Oh, Ruka, are you going to run any errands? Oh if you are going to the village, give this to the baker" the acquire music played and Ruka got a 'Mere Pebble' "Now come back before dusk"

"Bye grandma, I'll miss you too…" he kissed her forehead and hugged her.

Next was Annie, "Sorry Ruka. This whole thing started to save me. Thank you so much big bro! I'm totally grateful!" she hugged him, "The pink shadow's cute too! Hurray for Ruka, good luck!" Ruka rustled her hair affectionately until the hug was broken.

James was looking over at Ruka like he wanted to say goodbye too…even though he was going with them…

'Oh well…' Ruka went over to the ghost butler.

"*sobs* Master Stan…At last, at last you're departing on your journey of world conquest! The world conquest that the former Great Evil King Gohma couldn't achieve…Because of the intervention of the hero Hopkins!"

'Is he gonna tell me the story…? Okay' Ruka settled down and listened.

"But the dark magical power of Master Gohma is surpassed by that of Master Stan and his beautifully evil design will reach its full realization! Oh, it's a thrilling time to be evil!"

'…Is James warning me… about Stan…' Ruka looked at James' sobbing face.

"I-I James! Will always watch over the Master from under the sod! Call me whenever my malicious services are required!"

'Wait… doesn't James have teleportation powers… why can't he just teleport us from one town to the next?' Ruka wondered… 'I'll have to ask Stan later…'

Finally it was his mother's turn, she jumped him, squeezing him in a Momma bear hug, finally when she let go, she started primping him… fixing his hair and clothes, dusting off imaginary dust "Ruka, don't drink dirty water, okay? And greet people properly, okay?" with her word she said her voice cracked. "Oh… that reminds me, Ruka, take this with you"

Ruka acquired 'Old Music Box'!

'Maybe the music came from in here…' he was about to open it, when his mother told him,

"This is my treasure. I got this from your dad when I was young, when he proposed to me. It is an ancient apparatus that makes a pretty sound. Find somebody special on this quest, like we did! When you find her, don't hesitate. Giver her this Music Box. Grab the chance and push, push, push!"

'Sounds like I'll be jamming this thing down her throat… ouch…' Ruka thought. He then turned to his father, who was waiting eagerly for him.

"Well, did you say goodbye to everybody? Then it is time to go. Don't worry. Adventuring is fun!" his father explained.

"Yes, a journey makes a person shine! Your dad in his younger days was really handsome. Right?" His mother stated as she handed Ruka his bag of clothes and food supply.

"Hahaha, stop it honey….." Dad turned from cheerful, to confused in a moment.

'Hahaha, was… as in not anymore…oh mom' Ruka smiled.

"Well, is there anything left?" His father asked, looking around.

"My allowance?" Ruka asked, 'Though, I know you spent it all on mom…' Ruka smirked.

"Huh? Allowance? Oh, allowance. Hahaha! To be honest, I used up all of my bonus the other day"

"That's right! See this wooden doll" his mother took out a wooden doll with orange yarn hair and a red dress.

'I see… it's creepy…'

"Isn't it cute? It was pretty pricey, though" his mother stated, happily hugging it.

'Well, if mom's happy… I got money saved up from my birthday and other allowances…' Ruka nodded.

"Well, if you are an adventurer, make some money while you're on the journey. Hahaha!"

'Oddly enough… I think I can… ghost leave money and things behind, probably stolen, but oh well….but first I need a sword… this branch isn't gonna cut it, literally…' Ruka thought as he fingered the branch in his bag. 'How does it fit in here anyways?' he wondered

"Why don't you take my name card with you?" his father gave him his business card.

'Probably wants me to advertise him, or spread his name… ah dad will always be dad…'

Ruka acquired 'Ordinary Card'!

"People will think you're famous if you show them this. You may get in some private clubs or something.

"Thank-you…?" 'Wait, did dad just say he wanted me to get into clubs… like as in those 'clubs'…okay dad, you are now officially label pervert! I'm only 16!' Ruka glared at his dad…

"Hahaha, take it with you anyway! Now go on!"

"Boy, you're chattering forever and making me wait!"

'I'm chattering? It's dad who's chattering away!' Ruka rolled his eyes, causing Stan to glare.

"Whatever. Now slave, we are leaving!" Stan commanded, so Ruka sighed a heavy sigh and turned to the door, when he opened his grandfather cleared his throat.

"Ahem, The time has come for our youth to depart! Now…"

"one, two, three…" his mother counted.

"Good luck!" his whole family shouted.

'So that's what they were rehearsing yesterday night…' Ruka smiled… 'Well, here goes nothing…' and with that left, his family saw him walk out all the way to the crossroads, where they lost sight of him. Ruka was left alone with Stan, and the narrator, who was voicing his exit.

**TBC…**

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><p><strong>KH: I remember this part of the game, I always flinch whenever Ruka exit the gates, the damn thing looks like it would smack him in the face!<strong>

Stan is up to something and seems somewhat jealous of James... Well if you like what you see so far, review? Please~?


	4. Enter the pink Hero & her Parasol part 1

**Ruka to Maou**

**Summary**: In the prelude

**Main Pairing:** Stan x Ruka

**Other Pairings:** Undecided, life is fickle, let the characters be fickle.

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Game

**Disclaimer:** Okage © of Zenner Works, therefore I own nothing!

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><p><strong>Thank-you to the reviewers!<strong>

**Thanks xxOjou Kagexx for the long review.** I'm glad you find it funny. Yes, Stan is an attention hog, ah, that scene is a long ways away. Hahaha, no one respects evil, ever. Yes, that man is terrifying…

Yes, Cyphertext is a side quest, and I will try to incorperate all the side quests. There are lots of cool items you can get. Yeah… Julia was pretty mean, the first time I played the game, I kinda liked it, until the part where she just blows you off…

Yup, that's a spoiler, but I think everyone already knows. I did allude to it a few times in this fic. I'm glad you took the time to review, again thanks for the review, and happy holidays! I hope you enjoy this when you have the time.

**Thank-you ChocolateNoodles for reviewing,** I'm glad you find it cool, I hope to finish it too, and no worries, grammar isn't my thing either. Here's an update!

**Thank-you to the Anonymous reviewer**, I'm glad you enjoy it so far, a lot of people tell me I have an interesting sense of humor… though not all of them were nice like you are. You are just so sweet!

I was blushing all morning. I kinda wish for that too, I want people to remember the joys of Okage, hence I writing this fic out! So here's an update! I hope you like it!

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><p>KH: Onward slave Ruka!<p>

Ruka: ... Stan, the author is ordering me around

Stan: *Pops up from Ruka's shadow* Don't order around my slave! *fist shaking*

KH: I'll get the princess... *takes out cell phone*

Stan and Ruka : No! *Runs off*

KH: *Giggles maniacally*

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Enter the pink Hero and her Parasol part 1<br>**

Remembering his grandmother's request he went to the village, also to stock up on supplies of nuts. Entering the bakery he heard the baker woman exclaimed,

"Oh dear! A gap has formed in the stone bread oven while we were closed!" that's when she noticed Ruka, "Oh, Ruka, I hear that you're off to travel. Remember this. A man should act with dignity! Keep your chin up!" then she noticed the 'Mere Pebble' in Ruka's hand.

"What? From your grandma? This pebble is for me?" Ruka relinquished to her the pebble.

"Hm, I don't know how she does it, but this looks like just the right stone. Great, it fits in the gap perfectly! Your grandma, she seems senile, but she's far from it. She's a mystery. To show my thanks, take this" she handed Ruka 'Bread Crust'

'Hm… I can eat it… or save it… I'm not hungry right now… I'll save it' Ruka placed it in his bag and music played.

After purchasing an energy flower, and two more nuts, totaling in 5 nuts, he set off once more.

Ruka had finally passed the crossroads and kept walking toward Madril, which was a whole plain away… On the road he passed the grounds in which Tenel used for festivals…

'Right the cyphertext…' he runs over to the grounds, there was only one person there… and a green glowing stone pillar… he touched the pillar and got transported!

He warped onto an island surrounded by beautiful ocean… and ruins of a giant stone castle… there were five more identical pillars near the green one, but they weren't glowing…and there was a woman, dressed in black, black hat, black dress, black stocking, and black shoes with her black hair and black gloves…. The only color on her was her white skin and the red rose on her hat.

Ruka tapped her arm and she turned to him slowly.

"Welcome to the Isle of Wap-Wap" she said in a monotonous voice, "Also known as 'Traveler's Island', it connects to all over the world from this stele… If you are to continue to travel, you will have to frequent this place. See you again… if fate allows" and with that she turned back slowly to stare at the vast ocean below…

'Well, there's only one thing to do now…' Ruka ran back to the glowing green pillar and tapped it, and was transported back.

'There wasn't anything there… so maybe it's this person' Ruka went over to the only person standing there, the suspicious guy with the purple hair…

"Humph. Congratulations, you've passed! From now on, you are a member of the 'World Crypto Organization' The World Crypto Organization is a great organization. It 'searches for the world's secrets through cyphers' We are playing… I mean studying the creation and decoding of cyphers. Now we give you, the newcomer the following command. The cipher indicates a location somewhere in Madril" he handed Ruka the second cyphertext.

Ruka acquired 'Cyphertext 2'! He was really getting use to the music now…

"Decode this one, new comer, you must live up to the group's expectations!" And with that he went back to kicking dirt…

Ruka looked at the text as he walked away '5.:ownha 1:Knockth 4:sideoft 3:nthe 6:llofth 2:reetimeso 7:emachines… hm… you just put these in order huh… okay…' shuffling to get a pencil and notebook Ruka kept walking along the dirt path, when he was about to finish he spotted something shiny on the side of the road near the bridge,

Ruka acquired 'Tiny Gear' '…what are these tiny gears… I have 2 now… how many can there be…? Ah, here we go. …. Oh spaces… knock three times on the side of town hall of the machines… I guess Madril has a town hall too… okay, I'll knock there…' Ruka nodded and kept on walking, he was about to step on the bridge when he spotted someone underneath it.

'Hey, it's an artist, he's using charcoal. Ah… he just used his finger to erased, it's all black now. Hahaha, he's supposed to use…bread…crust-" Ruka pulled out the bread crust… 'Now what are the odds?' he smirked and ran under the bridge.

Walking up to the man, Ruka though he resembled an eagle… the nose was large and sharp, and he had spiky yellow hair…

Ruka walked up to the painter who was grieving over his canvas muttering, this perspective doesn't work… and something about no motivation, that's when he spotted the bread crust Ruka was holding out to him.

"A-are you giving it to me?" he asked blinking, looking at Ruka. Ruka nodded.

"T-thanks" he swept his hand through his spiky bird like hair, making the charcoal blacken his face and hair, now he looked like a toucan…

"Hehehe!" Ruka giggled with jolly green eyes.

"Ah…" the man blushed, that's when Ruka heard a growl… it sounded feral…

'S-Stan?' Ruka looked down to his shadow, and it was vibrating… 'I wonder if he's hungry… Do shadows get hungry?' Ruka mused.

"Uh, h-here, I'll give you this brush… I'm not using it anymore" he handed it to Ruka. (Music~)

"…Thank-you" Ruka remembered his mother's advice of being polite and courteous and left the man to his drawing, when he spotted a treasure chest off in the distance. He didn't notice the man eyeing him, as Ruka popped open the chest, and pulled out a Holly!

'Holly is lucky, but I already have one…, oh well more luck for me!' He smiled as he held it up to the light.

'I've found my inspiration!' the painter drew and shaded like never before, again Stan growled, but Ruka didn't know why… he ran past the artist and onto the bridge, that's when a ghost appeared. When spotting the ghost the artist ran for cover in the bushes.

"Hehehe…Oh, here are some low class evil beings like the ones in the church that I smashed for you" Stan laughed.

'You did no such thing…'

"But slave, you should improve your skills. Now slave, destroy the one there. A true servant of mine should be able to do this easily. Now go!" and with that Stan disappeared.

The white ghost apparently came with a buddy… whom came up behind Ruka…

"Uh… Hi~!" Ruka smiled… it didn't work…they weren't listening… He was surrounded, and they were closing in on him.

'Darn, trapped… I could jump… but then again, the river is pretty shallow… I'd break something, oh well… I guess I'll have to-'

"Wait a minute! HAAA!" a blonde woman with a belt on her head, in white, navy blue and gold attire, like a naval officer, except it was one long robe… and she had shorts underneath and she held a pink parasol…

She slashed and hacked at the ghosts, barely missing Ruka quite a few times, had he not duck and roll.

"Phew. Recently there are so many cruddy ghosts around. Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Thank you!" he thanked her 'for nearly taking off my head!' his eye twitched…

"T-Thank-you? What an optimistic attitude! Don't walk around here so vulnerable like that! In addition, you don't even have a weapon… I can't believe it! Hold on a sec!

'… is she giving me a sword… well it's better than a branch' Ruka thought as he tossed the branch into the water.

"Here take this! Fight against ghosts with this! It's a cheapie but it's better than nothing!" she told him, pointing to his face.

Ruka took the 'Leftover Sword' when…

"D-Did you hear that?" the woman asked him, while she looked around, only spotting the shaking form of the artist in a nearby brush.

Smirking inwardly, he shook his head.

"R-Right… you are a boy, you should not be such a sissy. Okay? You got it?"

"Thank….you" he hissed through clenched teeth…

"Oh no! It's already late! I have to go now or he will… I gotta go!"

"Goodbye!" Ruka said with a bright smile.

"Pull yourself together, young boy! See ya!" and with that she ran off.

"Damn, I didn't have time to appear. By the way, what was it anyway! You are a pathetic thing, slave. Two lowly beings show up and you cower like a troll. Then you were saved by some passing woman!"

'She nearly took my head off… you call that saving? !' Ruka glared at Stan…

"Oh well… be grateful that my evil hand is merciful to my servants, I may render aid from time to time… But you must still become stronger! Discipline yourself by giving these lower evil beings a thrashing!" Stan stated loudly. Ruka nodded slowly, still miffed at Stan…

"We will have issues if you can't protect yourself. Don't forget that your shadow is important to me now!"

"Oh… is that all that's important to you… well if I'm dead… I'll still cast a shadow… even my skeleton will… just let James carry around, why don't you" Ruka glowered.

"…" Stan blinked.

"You did say I could talk back… now will a true King, even an Evil one dismiss his own orders… if so, some King you are" Ruka smirked and walked on, ghosts appeared, but were made quick work of by a peeved Ruka…

Stan just floated there… astounded… "O-Of course, a slave of mine should make quick work of those lower beings, Ahahaha!" he laughed.

'Right… ah, another tiny gear…' Ruka, after crossing the bridge spotted one just underneath it to the right, but he couldn't go down the slope on the right side so he veered left and slid down, and ducked under the bridge, a ghost was about to ambush him when he grabbed the gear, and the ghost disappeared… He had gotten to the lake… and founded two more tiny gears, one in the brush near the lake, and one on the shore of the lake.

"They're everywhere… like those man-eating onions…" Ruka muttered as he pocketed them, he spotted an old man/ traveler. Being a good child at heart he walked over to talk to him.

"I saw it! At the shore of a lake further down south… Soldiers were walking in line guarding some incredible beauty! She must be a Princess!"

'Ah, first an Evil Shadow King… now a Princess…?' Ruka laughed, almost like a madman…almost. 'Why can't I have a normal life?' he drooped and walked on, fought on… and there on the small narrow bridge stood a strange man wearing a lab coat… he had his back turned to Ruka.

Ruka tapped him.

"…" But nothing happened. Ruka tapped him again.

"….Huh?" he turned around, he had crazy grey hair and a big moustache, and yellow and blue striped socks. "What? I am making an extremely important observation now. Do not disturb me" and turned away…

'Okay… he better move before I make him… I'm not in a good mood right now…' though the onions were weak, they came in packs of three… while attacking one the other two deals some damage, and then once getting it down to one it deals another point of damage… after having fought multiple ghosts, Ruka's wasn't feeling all that great.

"…. Hmm. My past calculations projected that my present calculations would show… Nothing!..." he shouted.

"If they present nothing, then move your fieldwork elsewhere you roadblock!" Ruka shouted.

"Huh, what is it?" the man turned around…

"Have you taken root here?" Ruka asked, his blood thirst rising…

"…Huh? What is it? Uh-huh. You want to know who I am?" the man grinned.

"I want to know when you'll move…" Ruka glowered, one hand edging toward his sword…

"I am the famous ghost expert. Gutten Kisling! My hobby is clipping toe nails." He raised his arms up like someone presenting something…

Ruka's eye twitched…

"Well, you have the guts to speak your name aloud in my presence" Stan popped out.

'Not another one… ugh, kill me now!' Ruka bashed his head against the bridge's suspense pole.

"I am Evil King Stan, the lord of darkness & evil. How do you do. My hobbies are world conquest and the harassment of fake Evil Kings"

'So he admits he like harassing people…' Ruka smirked.

"Humph, see the difference. I am a superior class of being. Now get out of my way!" Stan shouted.

'Finally…' Ruka stood up from his slump.

"…Ha, you're still green. A person like you who tells stale jokes to any passerby wouldn't understand. My main concern is…"

'He just keeps on going…and going… and going… echo…' Ruka thought, tilting his head back, Stan looks down at him, a frown on his flat shadow face.

"to construct a new paradigm by hypothesizing the dichotomy of the light wave/particle…"

'Physics again… or rather chemistry… but I also learned this in biology… light is everywhere!' Ruka mused.

"Relationships to supradimensional non-corporeal, malicious existence exuding into the observable planes…"

'Supradimensional isn't a word~ MR CRACKPOT! He's just making things up now… abuse of dictionary is what he's doing!' Ruka thought… 'Huh… Stan can't read my thoughts… Stan just kept staring at the ramble fool.

"And how it permeates corporeal ideas of positive and negative morality and its numerous permutations, through…"

"See the results of dictionary abuse, Stan? SEE!" Ruka shouted.

"Arrrggh! No scientific babble! Just get out of my way! And take your theories with you!" Stan shouted, fed up as well.

'Not theories, assumptions…'

"based on that theory,"

"Assumption!" Ruka actually shouted… Stan and Kisling stared at Ruka…

"in order to establish a feasible hypotheses to plot empirical data we must… The retreating figure in the drizzling rain, on a dark and cold road and other metaphysical metaphors bending time and reality! And there you have it! Cool, awesome, right on!' Gutten Kisling, that's me! Hahaha, So long!" Kisling waved as Ruka drew his sword over his head, and ran off…

"Ah… no more people… Stan… you should kill them all…" Ruka rubbed his temple "before I do…" Ruka muttered as he picked up another tiny gear that was to the left right under a tree.

"S-slave…?" Stan asked.

"What…?" Ruka asked, he was really tired… two more ghost had just attacked…

"D-don't you have those nuts"

"… ah, right…" he chew one, and immediately perked up, that's when he spots a woman in a red dress with bright orange hair.

"Hi!" Ruka greeted.

'Note… the slave becomes inconceivably evil when hungry…'Stan thought as he popped back into Ruka's shadow.

"I am a mysterious woman. I use my mysterious words and deal in mysterious arts, currently in Madril there are two gangs. They are involved in a terrible conflict! Please don't-"

"Oh, thanks for the info" Ruka thanked her and left.

"Don't go… He's going anyway! Oh no!" she shouted to herself.

'How does a girl just stand in the middle of the-' suddenly a ghost attacked.

"DIE FLOPPY BUNNY!" Ruka shouted charging at it, and slashing it in half.

"Sigh… what next…? Apparently a square rhino…" after defeating yet another ghost, Stan was laughing.

"Ah… Stan… do you know what these tiny gears are?" Ruka picked up one from nearby a tree next to a red pillar… after finding another one near the boarded up hollow tree stump, and he also found a wild strawberry in a treasure box.

"I don't associate with machinery made by lesser beings" he haughtily stated.

'Meaning… he doesn't know' Ruka smiled.

"…What…?" Stan narrowed his golden eyes and leaned forward.

"Nothing… ah, a red pillar, does it lead back to the island of Wap-Wap… I wonder" he entered it and he did go back to the island. He spotted the monotonous woman and waved, she just stared at the ocean…

'Okay… she seems… distant…'

"Hurry it up slave, the gates of the town where the imposter Evil King is just up ahead!" Stan commanded.

"Yes, your Evilness" Ruka stated and walked back through the pillar. And just like Stan said, the gate were just up ahead.

'A wall…? No giant gears… Maybe this is where these tiny gears came from, hm…?' Ruka knocked the gear and someone shouted,

"Step back!" he did so and soon both gears rotated and there was an opening, within that people could slip through easily, the gears then rotated back to their proper place sealing the town shut…

The town was morbid… it was etched out on the side of a large mountain range… and if one wasn't careful crossing the streets, one would fall over and off the streets… meeting their demise in the canyons below… The ceiling of the town, yes ceiling, was covered in smog… due to the fact there was an upper level to the town…

'I think I'd get very depress here…' Ruka looked around, the houses and buildings were all made of rotating gears… and black steel. Rust was everywhere…

"Hmm. So this is Madril? What a pitiful little town! Haha!"

"Very sad…" Ruka stated glancing about, "Something's not right…"

"Heh, that's to be expected slave, my dark magic must be rubbing off on you. There is a strange mood in the air… Go and gather information!" Stan ordered and disappeared into Ruka's shadow.

Ruka walked over to some people who were whispering to themselves, a man, an old woman, and young boy,

"What should we do? Should we evacuate this town, too? But I'm sure that-"

"Did I miss the party?" Ruka asked,

"What boy? Where did you come from?" the small frowning man in the blue vest and white working shirt asked.

"Tenel" Ruka answered smiling.

"Sorry that you had to come here from so far away in the countryside, but we've got big trouble in this town. Go back home!" the man firmly advised.

'Hm… I'll ask the old lady… this guy looks perpetual pissed' Ruka thought and ran over to the old woman.

The sighing old lady sighed, "What happened?" Ruka asked.

"I cannot believe that we have an Evil King right here in Madril!" she looked horrified.

"Hey, weird old woman! Where is that Evil King you're talking about? Answer me or I'll gobble you whole!" Stan popped out and raved.

"If you did that… you'd get indigestion, master" Ruka smiled,

"Fine…" Stan turned back to the old woman "just tell me old hag!"

"Huh? What's this strange shadow?"

"A handful…" Ruka muttered… Stan overheard and pouted… re-entering Ruka's shadow.

"Sigh, I don't know. I just don't understand you people's sense of humor anymore… If you want to know about the Evil King, go to the Town Hall over there" she pointed to the building with the large blue double doors "Everyone there's talking" Ruka said his thank-you-s bowed and left to the building.

"Master Stan?" Ruka called out just as he reached for the doors, but was ignored…

When opening the doors to the Town Hall he spots a worker muttering to himself "the latest classification table from the capital city… is Evil King…not just one… so many… ah, we live in troubled times…"

Ruka walked over to one of the official looking workers, a civil servant, an annoyed one at that.

"This is really annoying. One day, posters were hung up all over the walls in town. Evil King of not, this was really not a nice thing to do. Taking them down was such hard work. I worked overtime and managed to take them all down, though I think one poster is left. It's hung over there" the man pointed and went back to work after using Ruka to vent…

There was a young man blocking the poster, but he was reading it aloud,

"I am the 'Sewer Evil King.' I plan to conquer the world. I am doing evil things in Madril's underground sewer. Currently wanted, Evil Monsters, Young people with cool haircuts, come apply' Evil monster… maybe I should apply…" he muttered to himself.

The Town Manager was sleeping on his desk… drooling… and murmuring, 'let the hero's handle…not my problem… hero's club…sandwich…'

He walked over to the guard.

'I presume it's the hero's club… not a sandwich; that would be one large sandwich'

"This is the 'Hero's Club'. You want to ask the heroes something, boy? Usually, I would just let you in, but… it's crazy in there right now with everyone preparing to go on Sewer Evil King Punishment expedition" with that Ruka left the building…

'Punishment expedition, huh…? Hm, I wonder how can I get in on that' Ruka thought as he stared at his shadow, which averted his eyes by slipping pass his feet, to cast behind him… while the lamp was behind him…

'Oh dear lord…' Ruka thought while rolling his emerald colored eyes.

"Master of darkness and all that is Evil, the one and only Evil King Stan. I am very sorry for my obstinacy… I-I don't know what came over me… please forgive me" Ruka pleaded, feigning hurt with his face cast downward.

Stan popped out, and looked down, Ruka kept his head low, "…I see you've seen the errors of your ways" Stan stated nodding, "Fine, let us be off slave."

Ruka smiled, still with his eyes closed, as he lifted his head, looked at Stan and nodded. Stan popped back into Ruka's shadow and Ruka was off. But that's when he spotted a blonde kid with a buzz cut.

"Hey, hey, you'll be sorry if you think that I'm just a little kid! I might not look like much, but I'm a member of the spotted cat team, the ruler of shadows in Madril!"

'Rulers of shadow- oh no…' Ruka shook his head, Stan soon popped out and said in the most sarcastic tone Ruka's ever heard.

"Rulers of shadows, eh?" Stan crossed his arms, "Those are big words, small fry. I'll put you in your place" Stan announced.

"Just ignore him…" Ruka tried to reason with the Shadow, the kid was only a kid.

"Whoa! Hey, what's that? How cool!" Stan smirks at the complement, "That shadow looks bad!"

'Okay… if shadows could glow… I think he's glowing!' Ruka grinned,

"Oops. I mean… um you with your shady tricks! Your must be a whisker-mole team spy! I will report to my leader later! This town will never be yours, Whisker Mole Team!" the boy shouted.

'?' Ruka and Stan look at each other and blinked… Stan popped back into Ruka's shadow as Ruka said "O-kay…" and walked off to where soldiers were lined up, blocking the road to the eastern part of town.

"*Yawn*… I became a temporary soldier at the Hero's club request. But it's so boring just standing here" the militia soldier with the number 2 pinned onto his coat stated.

"Due to current Evil King Punishment expedition no one is allowed beyond this point. So beat it! Man that felt good. I've always wanted to boss people around like this" the militia soldier with the number 1 pinned onto his coat stated.

Since, they weren't allowed entry, they had to gain entry… so they return to Town Hall, when Ruka remembers the cyphertext and ran to the side of the Town Hall. There he spots a mysterious hole, in which he knocked three times, and received 'Cyphertext 3' music played and the mysterious hole spoke.

"…the next cyphertext is btquxbkhee:

:

dvsmzdmjgg"

"What in the world… oh well, I'll figure this out later…" Ruka muttered, that's when his stomach told him 'Feed me damn it!'

'Well, a couple of nuts aren't going to sustain me for long…' Ruka turned and headed back from where he came from.

"Where are you going slave?" Stan asked popping up from behind Ruka.

"I'm sorry Master, but…I'm human, therefore I need nourishment" Ruka stopped, and waited for Stan's approval because he didn't want more trouble.

"Very well, but once done, acquire more information, seems we need entry into the sewer…and once that is done, we'll subjugate that rat that so dare claim the title Evil King"

"Right…" 'Rat, huh…? Wouldn't surprise me if it was… what else would live in the sewers, except alligators…' Ruka thought as he opened the door to the Screwdriver Inn, (which was located near the elevator?)

'Right, this place is two stories. I keep forgetting that…' Ruka mused as he enter the inn, the hostess came running up to him. Though she was an old woman, she was fast.

"We call ourselves the Screwdriver Inn but it's not like we serve screws for dinner. So don't worry and eat with us" she proclaimed and took out a notepad.

'I hope not…' Ruka smiled and said "Do you have pizza?"

"Yes, is that all?"

'Wow, she's in a hurry isn't she… though I don't see why…' "bread and water too, please"

"Okay, pizza, bread, and water" she read back and once he nodded she sped off.

"Okay…" looking around, there were only three other people in the entire Inn besides the hostess. 'I might as well chat… might find something out from them'

First Ruka spoke with the young looking folk, two males, first the blonde told Ruka about the 'automatic vertical transporter' that and because of the Evil King it isn't operational. Next the brunette…he was just obsessing over an idol called Miss Madril, so last was the man sitting at the cogwheel tables. He was sitting on a screwdriver stool. Apparently the older man in the brown suit and green tie was Mr. K.I.A.

'Not Mr. Killed In Action…Mr. Know-It-All' Ruka's mind wandered as Mr. K.I.A babbled on about knowing everything about anything…

"What would you like to know, my son?" Mr. K.I.A asked.

'Son…? Well, if you know everything, then what is the circumference of a mongoose?' "I'd like to know about…about Evil Kings in Madril…please" Ruka remembered to mind his elders.

"An Evil King who calls himself 'Sewer Evil King' apparently, lives in the town's underground sewer."

'That much I've gathered from a poster …' "What else?" Ruka asked.

"Lately, there have been posters hung up all over the town about some plan to conquer the world. I call myself Mr. Know-It-All, yet I had no clue that an Evil King lived in the town's Sewer, I'm ashamed!" the man wept.

'You should be… I knew all this from the poster that the Evil King himself placed up!' "Sigh… nothing new" Ruka mumbled as he sat down at a different table as his food arrived. Using the money he had gotten from the ghosts, keeping his 1000 separate, he paid for his meal and left.

'Maybe I can persuade the hero association to let me join them temporarily… but Stan would be upset…sigh…' Ruka ruffled his hair.

"Slave, what's wrong with you?" Ruka didn't see it, but Stan did look worried for a moment.

"Nothing… let's see if I can't get us into the sewer" Ruka smiled. Stan blinked and nodded, as he disappeared back into Ruka's shadow. Again they were at the Town Hall… but something was different this time. The guard blocking the door to the hero's club was getting bombarded with complaints… by the woman with the pink parasol. Walking up carefully behind the woman he listened, while he wondered, 'How did I get here before her?'

"What do you mean I was too late? ! Do you know how far I had to travel to get here? You'd better let me in, or else!" she shouted.

"Hey don't get mad at me, but we're not accepting anymore hero applicants. No one is going in there"

'Well there goes that plan…' Ruka sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Never mind, let me in!" the blonde woman shouted again, but this time she points her sword at the guard.

'I should have done that! Oh well… what's done is done' Ruka thought.

"Y-Yes ma'am! But wait your parasol-" But the woman rushed in, the guard moved out of the way so that the sword wouldn't impale him. "Oh, there she goes inside with it open…" he muttered as he went back to guarding the door.

"Excuse me" Ruka called out as he tapped the guard's shoulder. The guard was about to dismiss Ruka again when,

"Hmm… I don't really understand why, but I sense that I'll find that dreadful Hero Hopkins right in there!" Stan announced.

"Huh? What's that shadow?" the guard asked arching an eyebrow, his three pointed spear tilting in indication of Stan.

"Oh…my master is all" Ruka stated before Stand would announce that he was an Evil King thus alerting every hero in the next room…

"Oh, well. I hate to break it to your master but, Hero Hopkins is the name of the Great Hero from 300 years ago"

"Wow master… you are old" Ruka smiled. The guard blinked as Stan stuttered,

"S-Shut up!"

"But it's the truth~" Ruka played innocent, as he fluttered his eyes, and then grinned.

"I don't know what you're thinking but that person's been dead for a long time now" Ruka had a moment of silence for the man, thought he didn't know him.

"What? So who is the hero today?" Stan asked, not at all phased that he had found out his rival was dead…

"Well, it's hard to say who… there are more than a dozen heroes in Madril alone right now" the guard announced.

"W-What did you say? You fool! There can only be one hero! That's just the way it is, isn't it?"

'Things change, Stan…' Ruka felt bad for Stan again, things he knew from before… could all be a lie now 'So… maybe the other kings aren't fake… so is Stan a fake now…?' Ruka wondered.

"Oh, whatever. I don't really care. Here, I'll let you in so you can check it out yourself" the guard stepped out of the way.

'Nice going Stan!' Ruka ran through the door as Stan disappeared again. On entering he heard two heroes arguing.

"Hahaha, you're ranked 164th, I'm 161st. I win!"

"B-But that's only a three rank difference!"

Ruka wondered what they were talking about… apparently there was a ranking or rather a rating system to pick out the best hero to determine the great hero who will fight against the Great Evil King that is said to come again someday… or so said a clerk in the corner.

'Great Evil King…? That's probably Stan…*sigh* and here I am helping him become all great and powerful again… I am a nuisance to mankind aren't I? Maybe I am a demon… I could have been adopted' while thinking Ruka read through the ranking which was listed on the walls 'Or my family are descendants of a demon or something' then Ruka remembered, in front of his home there was a cemetery, 'Nope, that was definitely a hero's grave, sigh, no use thinking about it now; and Ruka went off in search of the clerk who'd allowed entry into the sewer.

"So like I said, I'll make an exception and give you a number. But you still have to wait for your turn" the clerk, whom Ruka was searching for, stated.

"That won't do! How many times do I have to tell you to get you to understand? Let me pass through the management office now!"

'So it's the management office…' Ruka thought 'Now all I have to do is get there…'

"Well, let me just say this" the clerk started again, "you should be grateful that I'm giving you a number at all. And besides you shouldn't have an umbrella open in doors, you know. You're a hero, you should know better"

"Well it's b-because…" she stuttered.

"Of course, I understand why it bothers you so much, hehehe" the woman looked shocked as the clerk mocked, she then turned red… "Everyone knows your shadow is p-" when SLAP! And the heroine left…

"Ow! That hurt! That wasn't very nice!" the man, who now lay on the ground twitching, shouted.

Ruka walked over to him… "I feel sorry for you…" Ruka shook his head.

"Hahaha. Well, there are all sorts of heroes, you know" the man sat up slowly, a red handprint scorched his left cheek.

"Who was she…?" Ruka asked looking to the door she left through.

"Oh that woman…? I believe her name was Rosalyn. I hear she's a really good hero, but you know… she's got that you-know-what… Hahaha!"

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Ruka said as he watched the grown man roll on the floor…

"Well, why don't you ask her yourself, why she uses a parasol. Be careful you don't let her hit you! Hahaha!"

With that Ruka left, ignoring the cry for help from the man, seems he couldn't get up… Exiting the building Ruka was stopped by his shadow.

"I won't have it. He's just some phony called the Sewer Evil King or something! Why is it that he's the only one that heroes are after, when I am the true Evil King? ! What an insult!" Stan shouted.

Ruka smirked, "You want heroes going after you?"

"Humph! But of course, I'll apply my backhand to those second rate heroes in a flash! Anyway, it is moi who will defeat this so called sewer Evil King! I will show those lamer heroes who the true Evil King is! Slave! Go and begin your search!"

'Hm… but wouldn't it be more beneficial to us to let the hero and the fake evil kings tire themselves out and just take them all down in the end…? Oh well…' Ruka shrugged and was off.

"Hey you! Whisker Mole spy!" the previous blonde kid shouted.

"What now…" Ruka muttered as the kid panted from running up to Ruka.

"It's not fair for you to act too big just because you have a curious shadow! I know everything about this town, but I won't tell guys like you anything!"

'Hm…' Ruka smirked "Oh, but do tell" Ruka smiled staring into the boy's eyes, unsettling him…

"Humph… I will never tell you that there is a back-way that goes through to the east side of town that only we know about! I won't even tell you even if you torture me that Toby watches the secret entrance!" at this point Ruka is jotting this stuff down on his notepad.

"That's enough" Ruka capped his pen.

"Oops…" Ruka was walking back over to the house near the Town Hall, where he stumbled into, meeting a cute little boy who told him his name was Toby, the boy shouted "But I'll never tell as long as I live that my name is Dill!"

"Thanks Dill!" Ruka shouted back, causing Dill to smack himself.

'Hahaha, funny kid' Ruka smiled as he opened the door. Once telling Toby "The Spotted Cat team are the best~" he agreed with Ruka and allowed entry saying,

"Yeah, they're the greatest. And Maggie is so pwetty~"

Opening the door, which was previously guarded, Ruka saw that the spotted cat's back-way was a pipeline that connected to the side of the building and ran all the way to the other side of the street. He muttered "Leave it to cats to call this a back-way…whatever…" Ruka readied himself, taking in a breath and tight rope walked across, not even bothering with looking down.

Stan then popped up shouting "Slave what are you doing? !" surprising Ruka for a moment, but Ruka just shivered and closed his eyes for a moment to take in a breath…

"Getting us to the sewers" Ruka smiled, though his eye was twitching.

"Oh… for a moment there I thought you had a death wish…" Stan blatantly stated.

"If I had a death wish… I would have killed myself long ago Stan" Ruka announced as he walked on and jumped to the other side of the street. There were people walking about so Stan disappeared into Ruka's shadow again, Ruka then spotted the woman with the parasol again, just across the street. She was waiting in a line, presumably the line to the management office…

'Darn it, it's guarded too… with all the heroes here Stan probably can't convince them… sigh, oh well… oh… hey, isn't that a manhole… darn it, she's standing on it' Ruka cursed his rotten luck.

Ruka went over to the woman and stared at her parasol, trying to figure out why in the world would she have it open… when there wasn't any sun here.

"…What? What are you staring at? Go away? !" she shouted in Ruka's face.

'Sigh…women, can't let a guy concentrate in peace… let's go with a complement and see if she'll calm down' Ruka thought "You have a great parasol" 'What the hell was that…?' Ruka inwardly smacked himself.

"Are you hitting on me? Sorry, I've got better things to do" she turned away.

'Hit on… okay I'm not desperate enough to go out with someone so bi-polar… sigh, I'm just gonna go straight to the point…' _**tap**_ Ruka tapped her shoulder.

"What? What's wrong with you? What do you want from me?"

"Why do you carry a parasol?" Ruka asked flatly, it surprised the woman for a moment.

"What…? Why do I use- That's none of your darn business!" she freaked.

'Whoa! Stan help, crazy woman!' Ruka backed away, and the woman after seeing Ruka back away hastily and people staring said.

"Oh, I'm sorry" she played innocent "I just lost my temper- I usually don't get mad this easily, you know? Yes, once I was a gentle beautiful girl, leading a fabulous life as an elite of the Hero's university…" she turned away to reminisce. "Yes, my life was wonderful, until that abominable incident! Since then I've been looking for that guy who ruined my life!"

'Ah, boyfriend problems…' Ruka mused.

"It's been a long and difficult journey. You can't blame me for losing my temper from time to time, I guess" she announced.

"Yeah… yeah I can…" Ruka muttered the last part.

"Yes, so I finally searched him out! This sewer Evil King must be the detestable enemy I've been looking for! How can I just sit and wait for my turn?" she got that crazy look in her eyes again…

"But of course! There must be a back route to the sewer somewhere in this town! Yes, there must be! Look for it, Rosalyn!" she shouted to herself and ran off; as she was running she shouted "What am I waiting for! Let's get going!"

"Okay…" 'I feel bad for the guy, if she ever finds him…poor delusional woman…' Ruka thought as he lifted the manhole while people were distracted with the mad woman.

"What was that about slave?"

"Oh, just some crazy woman pouring her heart out, just ignore it… I found us a way to get to the sewers, we just need to go through the manholes" Ruka stated as he climbed down.

"Oh… what are you waiting for?"

"Well it's dark…" 'I might slip and fall… and break an arm or a leg… then I'd be trapped down there, wouldn't I?'

"Hn…a slave of mine, afraid of the dark that's-!" Ruka had gotten half way down, and it was completely dark because someone had noticed the manhole cover and replaced it back on its proper place.

"S-Stan…?" Ruka called out… 'Hm…' "Stan is an idiot!" Ruka shouted, and braced himself for the verbal onslaught but nothing…

'I see, there aren't any shadows because there isn't any light…well, that makes sense, without good there can't be any evil…' Ruka continued walking down the tunnel as he thought to himself, when he walked into a ladder.

"Okay, up we go…" he climbed until his head hit something, the manhole cover…

"Ow, why is it always my head?" Ruka asked no one in particular. Getting out of the manhole Stan re-appeared,

"Slave, what happened…?"

"Without light, there can be no shadows… therefore your presence on this world doesn't exist" Ruka explained.

"…Troublesome…" Stan muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll stay in areas that are well lit, and keep the lights on at night" Ruka stated as he walked toward the first he spotted.

"Why?" Stan asked

"You don't want me to?" Ruka asked, tilting his head.

"No… it's fine, just wondering why?" Stan asked narrowing his gold eyes.

"So you, master, can escape from the other world, the world of shadows… isn't it lonely and quiet there?" Ruka asked.

"H-How did you…"

"I read" apparently there were many books stored in Tenel, especially in Nameless manor. Ruka happened to cross paths with a book about the shadow world, where all shadows go to when night approaches and the moon doesn't shine… not a very happy place, or so he read.

Opening the door to the house, Ruka didn't notice the smirk on Stan's face before he disappeared.

Ruka kinda wished he hadn't entered that particular house… why? Read the sign that says 'Gear Love' that says it all…

**TBC…**

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><p><strong>KH: Gear… Love… they freak me out… And what's this, Ruka knows about shadows… hm, I wonder if this affected him somehow *giggles creepily*<strong>

Ow, my head hurts… I should sleep during the night instead of vice versa, alas… I have caught a cold… Well, I'll update when I have the next part proof read, which should take about a day … or two… Of course, knowing me there will always be some sort of error…


	5. Enter the pink Hero & her Parasol part 2

**Ruka to Maou**

**Summary:** In the prelude

**Main Pairing:** Stan x Ruka

**Other Pairings:** Undecided, life is fickle, let the characters be fickle.

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Game

**Disclaimer:** Okage © of Zenner Works, therefore I own nothing!

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><p><strong>Thank-you to the reviewers!<strong>

**Thanks to the Anonymous reviewer, once again for the review!** Thanks for your concern, I did take a few days to just sleep it off, but the weather is being silly, so I'm still under the weather. I'm always happy to hear what people have to say, but if it's just plain rude, I would retaliate! But you're too sweet, so, YES! I absolutely love to hear from you!

**Thank-you xxOjou Kagexx for the review!** Yup, it's a pretty long winded side quest, just like the tiny gears, and the love fortuneteller. There's also another side quest, in this chapter, and another one after Chapter 2, which you can only activate after beating the Rashelo boss…

Yes! You should play it again! I am! Of yeah, this game is hilarious because of such fancy talk! Thanks, will do!

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><p><strong>KH: Enjoy~<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Enter the pink Hero and her Parasol Part 2<strong>

"I'm sorry, but I'm in the wrong place…excuse me!" but it was too late, he was dragged in by the gear freaks…

"Hohoho this is my beloved gear. Her name is Ondeene. Just look at her exquisitely rugged edges! But oh but- I just cannot clean out the lint from this grove no matter how I try. Oh my poor ondeene!" the green haired girl cried.

'Don't I have that brush, the artist gave me' Ruka took it out, his one weakness…making a girl cry. Nope not women, only girls, even the crazy ones whom name their inanimate objects… (Mother is not included, she's family!)

"Oh! The brush! With this, I can clean the lint here right off Ondeene!" the girl hopped for joy.

"You can have it" Ruka handed it to her with a small sincere smile.

"Oh…thank-you! As a token of my appreciation, I'll give you this rare gear from my collection" she handed him a rare gear and the music played. Again another person was oblivious to it. "Be sure to take good care of it!"

'Huh, one man's trash is another man's treasure…' Ruka mused as he thought back to the pebble, while exiting the weird house before the others could persuade him into talking about why they love gears, he'd even forgot to ask if they knew anything about those tiny gears he keeps finding.

Ruka looked across the street, because lately that's been doing a lot of good for him and there he spotted a very large manhole…

'That must be it!' he walked over to the large building, the gate blocking the manhole was locked… so was the door to the left, but the door on the right was open and so he step inside.

"Hey, who are you? You can't enter without permission! We are engaging in a 'bloody battle'!" a short freckled brunette girl in a pony exclaimed, her eyes were huge.

'Cute…' Ruka mused at her pouting face.

"L-leader it's him! I didn't want to but he forced me to reveal the secret back-way info!" Dill stuttered nervously.

'Forced…?' Ruka made an 'r-e-a-l-l-y now' face and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, but he can do a trick with his shadow. It's hilarious!" Dill laughed.

'Oh great, here he comes…' Ruka shut his eyes and prepared for the verbal onslaught.

"Hold your tongues, sewer rats! Mock the Evil King Stan and you'll meet a speedy end!" Stan popped up and shouted.

"Wow, it's true! Cool!" Maggie beamed, Ruka smiled.

"Oh, I mean, um…Talk down to us again and I'll teach you a lesson!" Maggie exclaimed trying to correct her previous statement.

"That's right! This is the base of the Calicos: Maggie!" Dill pronounced.

'Calicos… as in the breed of cats?' Ruka mused.

"You can't scare us with your shadow! Our leader is a tomboy! We call her Maggie the 'Cuts & Bruises'"

"I know! You are a cat's paw of the Whisker Moles!" Maggie accused.

"Eh? What's that gibberish? Whatever. Slave, let's go! We have important things to do. I don't have time to play hopscotch with these children" Stan waved them off, angering Maggie.

'You know about hopscotch…?' Ruka smiled at the thought of Stan playing hopscotch, he almost burst out laughing!

"These brats wouldn't know their way around the sewers anyway" with that stated Maggie got a look that said 'I know something that you don't' one Ruka knew all too well, due to his sister's antics.

"Humph!" Maggie puffed out her chest, and began dancing around them "the back-way to the sewer? You bet we know about it. But it's a back-way just for us. And I'm not gonna tell you! You are a sneaky spy from the Whisker Moles! BAH!" Maggie made a mocking face.

"Enough lip stripling!" Stan shouted.

'S-stripling… that doesn't sound right for some reason…' Ruka blinked.

"What is this whisker something or other! I am the Evil King Stan!" Stan shouted thoroughly ticked off.

"Don't play the fool! Bah!" suddenly a voice of a namby-pamby boy echoed through the walls of the old building.

"Well, well. Having an internal dispute? That's typical of the Calicos low-class kitties" with that Stan hid in Ruka's shadow, why, Ruka didn't know.

"Robert?" Maggie asked while narrowing her eyes as she turned around.

"Hm… Hahaha! Raggedy Maggie, looking ragged and maggoty as always, huh?" an aquamarine haired boy asked sneering. The way he dressed, people could tell he wasn't from these parts.

"This building is our territory! The goody-goodies of the Whisker Moles should just fawn over their mammy upstairs!" Maggie announced crossing her arms.

"Oh, callous Calicos use such catty words. Besides, you're wrong about that one thing. The back of this building is already under the control of the Whisker Moles!" Robert announced.

"What! ? When! You pretend to be a goody-goody but do such crappy things!" Maggie pointed at Robert's face.

"Humph. It's sad. The only thing an underdog can do is bark. Anybody can enter from anywhere into such a rotten building. By the way, I've got something you might want to see. This is your cat, isn't it?" Robert asked, snapping his fingers. A glasses wearing boy appeared behind him with a cage that contained a cat.

"Oh no! Dilbert! Give back my Dilbert back to me! It's unfair to take a cat as hostage!" Maggie fumed.

"Whoa… you are rude. I just gave shelter to a stray cat. Come to the back room of this building and I can give him back to you. If you can get to the room that is! Faugh Hahaha!" Robert gloated. "Hey new member of my Whisker Moles, come out and say hello to the Calicos!"

"Yeah yeah…" it was the hero woman, though she looked pathetic.

"Faugh Hahaha! Do you give up? Just submit and give up!" Robert ordered.

"Yeah! Give up!" said the boy of little note, the one carry the cage.

"…up…" the hero woman mumbled.

Dill shouts "Cowards, you Whisker Moles! Leader, what should we do?" and turns to Maggie.

"Humph! I won't give up! I have a new member too!" Maggie announced "Right!" she turned to Ruka.

"Me?" Ruka smiled, he began to laugh, but held it in.

"Hahaha! What a shaky member! Hahaha! Haha- ach cough, cough! Well, see you in the back room! Hahaha!" Robert tried to laugh manically but failed.

"Sigh… Doing this to get into the sewers is so pathetic…" Rosalyn voiced as she slumped away.

'That Robert boy… has a crush on Maggie…' Ruka arched an eyebrow.

"Crabby Robert will prepare a sleazy trap! I am counting on you, new member!" but before Ruka could say anything Stan popped out and said

"Aghhhh, I can't stand it! Don't be absurd…"

"If you get my cat back, I'll tell you about the back-way into the sewer" Maggie pranced around mocking Stan.

"…." Stan couldn't do a thing to her so he popped back into Ruka's shadow.

'Hahaha! Stan got beaten by a little girl!' Ruka was laughing silently as he walked into the next room, Maggie and Dill followed closely behind, almost hiding behind Ruka… 'Ah, kids will always be kids~' Ruka smiled; when they entered the room they heard a pathetic whimpering.

"Huff…Huff…why do I have to push heavy boxes into such a place? Oh… I'm shedding tears. Oh my god…" apparently Rosalyn was the one in charge of setting up the trap.

"Whoa! ? This is Robert's favorite 'Boxes you can push but can't pull'!" Dill rambled when Ruka walked up to the boxes and kicked the boxes into place… Even Stan who had popped out to complain watched as Ruka walked to the door.

"Well…aren't you coming?" Ruka arched an eyebrow.

"Uh- Yeah" both kids replied and ran to the door and charged in.

"Robert!" Maggie shouted.

"Whoa! I didn't think you would break my trap this fast!" Robert announced very shock because it took them only one minute…

Both Maggie and Dill turned to Ruka, and grinned.

"Robert, you promised. Give Dilbert back to me!"

"Humph! No way. I told you I can but I didn't say I will" Robert smirked in victory as he watched Maggie pout.

"It's not fair, not fair not fair! Robert, why are you so mean to me? Stupid Robert!" Maggie cried.

"…."

"Hahaha! Crying won't- What?" Robert watched as Rosalyn came over to him, she was red and her hand lifted. _**SLAP!**_

"Gasp!" everyone gasped, especially Robert who was standing behind a stinging faced Ruka.

"Don't even…Let me handle this" Ruka ordered before Stan could pop out, the shocked heroine thought he was talking to Robert.

"One… that hurt…" Ruka lifted his head up, staring into Rosalyn's brown eyes. "Two… what kind of hero hits a child?" Ruka narrowed his eyes. She was going to argue, but Ruka beat her to it, "Yes, he was wrong to make Maggie cry, that deserves punishment" Ruka glanced behind him, Robert flinched, "but… you who has the ability to make a grown man fall to the floor with a flick of your wrist, do you think you should slap a child?" Ruka asked raising his eyebrows as he tilted his head to the side, his cheek still marked with Rosalyn's handprint.

"…I- my temper got the best of me… I-" Rosalyn was now holding her problematic hand with her left hand. She looked sorry enough.

"Well, as long as you're sorry… and you…" Ruka turned to look at Robert. Robert gulped, "You shouldn't tease your crush so much… she'll end up hating you" Ruka smiled brightly.

"W-Wah! I-I DON'T LIKE HER!" Robert turned bright red "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Robert ran off leaving his lackey behind.

"Uh what do I do now…? Uh… retreat!" the bespectacled boy shouted as he tossed the cage up and hastily ran for it. Ruka caught the cage and handed to a thankful Maggie.

"H-How'd you know Robert likes the boss?" Dill asked wondering. Rosalyn blinked,

'So that's what that was about…?' she wondered, staring at Maggie who was unlocking the cage and hugging her kitty.

"Easy, you just have to read in between the- lines…? THAT'S IT!" Ruka shouted scaring everyone in the room as he whipped out the cyphertext.

"W-What's that?" Maggie asked looking down at the paper while holding her kitty, Dilbert.

"A code" Ruka answered chuckling.

"Oh!" the kids all exclaimed.

"Ah, I don't get it, what does btqkxbkhee:

:

dvsmzdmjgg mean?" Maggie read it, but didn't understand a lick of it.

"Well, you have to read between the lines… what's between b and d in the alphabet"

"C" everyone answered.

"t and v"

"U"

"q and s" "R" "k and m" "L" "x and z" "Y" "b and d again" "k and m again" "L" "h and j" "I" "e and g" "F" "e and g again" "F"

"C-U-R-L-Y-C-L-I-F-F, what's that spell?"

"Curly cliff?" Rosalyn asked.

"Precisely, I must go to curly cliff!" Ruka announced pointing up to the hole filled ceiling.

"Ahem" someone coughed.

'Ah, Stan… right, right, the evil- ah, fake evil king' "But first, I need to get into the sewers, can you let me through Maggie?" Ruka asked smiling down at the girl.

"Of course! You helped get Dilbert back and made Robert run off embarrassed!" Maggie grinned.

"The sewers…? Hey wait a minute!" Rosalyn cut in.

"What?" Ruka turned to the wide eyed heroine.

"You aren't going into the sewer, are you? And Evil King is in there!" Rosalyn waved her hand, the one not holding onto the parasol.

"That's why I'm going…" Ruka shrugged.

"Gee, what are you talking about! You are still a kid. Once you are dead, it's too late! Don't go!"

"Shoo! Go away hero! Stop being nosy and mind your premature wrinkles!" Ruka wanted to slap his forehead, but refrained himself.

"Wh-whose voice was that?" everyone looked around, everyone except Ruka, whose eye just twitched.

"Oops, darn. Ahem, it's me. Sorry to be rude miss." Stan tried to correct himself, and tried to imitate Ruka's voice.

'I do not sound like a chipmunk on helium'

"Are you a ventriloquist?" Rosalyn asked wearily.

'I don't sound anything like that!' Ruka stared at her with wide eyes.

"Whatever. You are really rude though. Anyway, are you really going to go?"

"Ahem, that's right miss. So, go away and leave me be" Stan tried to shoo her away.

"I cannot let you! But I guess you have a reason? Yes? Well, I have to enter into the sewer anyway. I'll just go down with you."

"Stan, what should we do?" Ruka asked trying to be obvious as Stan was.

"S-stupid! Shut up! Just run away from this woman! ….Ahem. I am fine by myself"

'Wow, if anyone didn't catch that, they must be an idiot…' he looked at the children whom were staring at his shivering shadow, then at the woman staring at him.

"Hey, are you okay? Are you sick or something? I'm really worried. I'll go with you for a while anyway. My name is Rosalyn. Yours?"

"Ruka"

"Oh, Ruka. Nice to meet you Ruka. Ruka, I think you still have to prepare, so I'll wait for you." And with that she left the building.

Ruka then turned to the kids and said

"Thanks, take care okay"

"Wait, are you really going to take down the evil king?" Maggie asked, curiously.

"You mean Fake Evil King, but yes" Ruka nodded.

"Fake?" the two children chorused.

"It's a long story… Say, do you know a place where I can buy armor and some nuts?"

"Oh, just across the street, here let me clear up the mess so you can get there, Dill" Maggie called out.

"Yes ma'am, leader, ma'am" Dill saluted and went rushing out the door.

Once outside Maggie pointed to the shop, and it seems the guards all vanished as well, someone on the streets was muttering about the guards helping removed the injured to a hospital…

'So they all lost I see… I think I really do need some armor…' "Thanks, I'll be fine on my own now"

"Kay, good luck" Maggie waved.

"Pant…pant… good- pant- luck" Dill was fanning himself as he laid down supporting himself on the wall of the factory wall. Apparent he hefted all the garbage and tossed them over the edge of the streets.

'I wonder how much trash accumulated down there… or maybe it's bottomless…?'

After going into the shop, there was girl who was complaining about Maggie playing kid's games, saying that she should just spend more time on beauty treatments, like her.

"I think Maggie is fine the way she is…" Ruka said to no one in particular, as he eyed the swords in the back.

'Oh, that reminds me the blacksmith back home doesn't really dabble with swords anymore… but this fruit knife is pretty detailed…' Ruka pulled out the fruit knife, when the assistant boy of the general store spots it.

"Oh my… Hey boy, where did you get this?" he snatched it from Ruka's hand.

"Um… the blacksmith in Tenel…"

"I see" the boy inspected the knife a little more closely "Hey boy do you realize how incredibly valuable this stuff is?" the boy was completely fascinated with it.

"I don't know, but it has sentimental value, the blacksmith is my friend" Ruka replied, but was ignored…

"The curve, the crest… No mistake that this is the work of Kumagoro IV, aka the 'Vanguard of Sword Smithery' It's been 10 years since the genius that led the 'Post-Modern Smithery' movement disappeared"

'Hm… there are a lot of famous people from Tenel… but everyone keeps quiet, even though everyone there knows it' Ruka thought, that's why he really loved his hometown, if he could he would ask Stan to spare it after he takes over the world.

"So that's where he's been! I'll pay you 300 sukel for this! Sell it to me!" the boy leaned over the counter.

"Like I said, it has sentimental value to me, I won't sell it" 'But then again I do need the money, and it's not like I need a fruit knife… what I need is a sword, one better than this junk… I hope Kumagoro-san will forgive me…'

"Fine, I'll splurge, and pay 400 sukel for that Fruit Knife! Sell it to me!"

"… okay"

"Great, here you go" the boy happily handed over the bag of gold, and went to place the knife in a display case.

'At least I know he'll take care of it… sigh' then walked over to the man, who was wiping the counter, to his left.

"Hello, come and take a look inside. I have a lineup of some great tools" The general store owner boasted.

Ruka then bought one ordinary sword for 40 sukels. It had attack points of +10, a clean outfit for 30 sukels which had defense points of +1, and finally three purging stones for 30 sukels. He still had a few nuts left from defeating those man-eating onions and the perky frog demons…

'I'll buy more nuts after I take down the sewer evil king' Ruka was trying to be optimistic and think that he was coming back alive.

"Are you ready?" Rosalyn asks, just as Ruka walked over to the gates and stood next to her near the manhole.

"Yes"

"Okay, let's go"

"Be careful once we're inside. Follow me closely and step back if anything happens. Okay?"

"Ahem. Uh huh, okay. Let's go. " Stan stated though he was still hidden in Ruka's shadow.

'So if there is light he can talk without appearing, but if there is only darkness he can neither appear no speak, nor hear… Hm, interesting'

"Hold on, Master!" a circle of light appeared on the ground, but out of the sky fell James, head first into the sandy ground.

"Whoa! A monster! Where did-" before Rosalyn could finish her sentence James interrupted.

"Master, it is not fair! James was looking forward to being called by you, master! Now, James is here and you are safe! Let me show you the Dark Butler technique. An ancient horror technique!

"Ruka… Um, hello? Monster?" Rosalyn pointed, with one hand, and her other about to draw her sword, though she was having difficulties due to her parasol…

"Ahem. He's my butler. He can use a little magic" Stan informed her.

'Technically he's not lying, but he's not telling the whole truth either…' Ruka thought as he yawned.

"Huh? What's wrong with you master. I am not a magician. James is an evil k-"

"Whoaaaaaaaaaa! Let's go James! I'm counting on you, James!" Stan popped out and cheered.

"Hahaha, you can rely on me! Hahaha hahaha! …Oh. Darn, I had a date with Natasha! Master, I've gotta go now. See you later! I'm always on your side, giving 100%" James phased into the side of the mountain.

"Who was that?" Rosalyn asked, obviously not believing that James was Ruka's butler… or rather not a butler at all…

"Uh… yeah, who was that?" Stan tried to play innocent as he re-entered Ruka's shadow.

"Hey, Ruka. I think your shadow has been acting strangely…"

"Grrr…. Uh, mm, actually… I'm under a ghost's curse… And I heard the Sewer Evil King. Uh… has the herb…" Stan said popping out of Ruka's shadow completely, then popped back in.

"I knew you were damaged! I mean poor thing! Now that I know why, I can help you! But I can't shake the feeling… that I've seen your shadow somewhere before. Hmm…" she turned to look away, trying to remember where she had seen that shadow.

'…Damaged…?' Ruka glared at the back of her head, trying to burn a hole there.

"Let's get going! We have to hurry up or we won't find the Sewer Evil King!" Stan broke both of them out of their thoughts.

"That's right! Let's get going Ruka!"

And with that they entered the giant manhole and climbed down the ladder into the sewers.

"I can't believe that fool girl followed us to the sewer just for fun. Slave, just ignore her alright! Stay focused!" and back into the shadow Stan went.

When they arrived at the scene, there was a glowing book on the side, and the sewer had other passages but they were all barred, but that wasn't the strangest thing there… the strangest was the giant round rat that was huffing in the center of the room.

"Yuck! A rat? I wonder if he's the gatekeeper? What an ugly rat!" Rosalyn spat.

The huge rat then replied, to their surprise "You are rude like hell, miss. You-"

"A t-talking rat?" Rosalyn asked, shocked.

"I'm not a rat. I'm THE Sewer Evil King!" the rat shouted.

"No way" Rosalyn paled.

'Wow, Stan was right…the fake evil king is a sewer rat' Ruka mused.

"A rude woman. She's obviously a little slow, too." The Rat shot back, Ruka had to stifle a laugh, as did Stan.

"No! No way! It's completely different! The one who did this to me was a menacing one with potent power. Although he was sealed in… Oh where is he that darn creep! I didn't come all this way here to meet such a puny popcorn poky one!"

"Gee, are you the queen of rude from the country of rude? Who do you think I am? I am the Sewer Evil King! I am the big boss shooting for world conquest"

"Whooooooaaaaaa! The big boss huh! You rat! How can you be an evil king, huh?" Stan was steaming as he popped out of Ruka's shadow…

"I cannot answer why. I am an Evil King 'cuz I am an Evil King. The only reason could be…I was born that way. And soon I will acquire the title of Great Evil King! And my conquest starts with the sewers!" the rat announced.

"Hahahahaha! Hey sewer rodent! I am the one and only Great Evil King Stan the reincarnation of Great Evil King Gohma! Don't tell me you didn't know! Heed mouse! I, Stan, will pass judgment on you for the crime of pretending to be an Evil King!" Stan's laughing maniacally.

"What? Stan…? Nooooooooo!" Rosalyn shouted, catching Ruka's attention.

'Wait, is Stan her ex?' Ruka looked at Stan like he grew angel wings.

"Huh? Stan? Never heard of you. Besides, you know… Nobody would be scared by such a fluffy floppy shadow."

"What did you say? Uggh, I can't stand it anymore! I'll smash you, slam you, and blow my nose on you!" Stan huffed.

"Gee, you're rude, too. And annoying! Anyway, in a case like this, it's best to just kill everybody all together!"Then it became the attack of the sewer rats! 4 lurking rats and 1 Sewer Evil King.

"Well, this is getting ugly fast" Ruka muttered.

"Slave, concentrate!"

"Right" 'Take out the cronies first then go for the big palooka!' Ruka did overdrive and burst almost all of the lurking rats died off, but two remained, Rosalyn took care of one, but got poisoned … Ruka was about to pass out due to the fact he got attacked by the big rodent king and a lurking rat so Stan took action. After the crushing devil move, Ruka used Mend, Rosalyn took out the last lurking rat. That left them with one, but the big one.

After giving Rosalyn the purging stone to heal herself and Ruka Mended after taking another attack from the rat. Finally they combined attack and took the Sewer Evil King down.

"I lost..? Have I really lost? Is this real?" the former Evil King asks, then promptly runs off.

Stan shouted "Hahaha, there you are, rat! Whoa! Some of my power has returned hahaha! Hahaha, fair work, slave! But, he was a fake Evil King anyway. It was cake, hahaha!"

"It was a piece of cake…" Ruka stated, rolling his eyes, 'Cakes are hard to make…'

"Hahahaha! Now, let's go back to the surface, slave!"

'Well at least he's happy' Ruka sighed, and then let loose a tired smile.

"Hold on!" Rosalyn is seething as she came to an abrupt stop right in front of Ruka and Stan.

"At last. At last I found you… Found you..." she was hissing…

'Stan, you really did a number on her…' Ruka glanced at the bored looking Stan and then back at the huffing heroine 'or perhaps she was crazy from the start…' Ruka mused.

yes, it was three years ago. I'll never forget… I went to subjugate a man-eating monkey in Ascargorta and found a strange bottle in the mountains… I casually opened the bottle and suddenly, my shadow was haunted by a terrible Evil King! The only thing left for me was to take my own life. I placed my knife to my throat… Suddenly the Evil King fell into a rage in my shadow! And, he… he complained! 'Argh! I can't breathe! This woman's waist is too big and her butt is sagging! This armored woman's shadow is not suitable for I, the Evil King Stan!' he said. At that, the Evil King left my shadow and returned to the bottle…"

"Hehehe" Ruka giggled 'saggy butt' Stan grinned.

"Hey, did you laugh at me? Ruka. Do you want to become a stain on my sword? Whatever. But my real hardship started after that…" she lowered her parasol.

"Look. Since then, my shadow has become pink… Pink, you know, pink! Not even a tasteful pink but fluorescent pink! I used to be the idol of my Hero's University, admired by everybody and super elite. But since then, I have become a dropout hero and nobody takes me seriously. Everywhere, people laugh at me… 'I can't trust you because you have a pink shadow hehehe!' And I am out of work now…" Rosalyn turned away, which should have been their cue to hightail it out of there, but Stan had to open his big mouth.

"You woman! You make it sound like you were the only victim, but you kicked my bottle off the mountain! Thanks to you I had to wait in a deserted woods until a stupid hunter picked me up. You cannot imagine how lonely I was!"

"Co-dependent, much? You deserved it! Now, Evil King Stan! You know what I want! Bring my shadow back to its original state, take back your rude statement about my nice body and then…Die under my sword!"

'That's unreasonable… death after apology, my gracious, someone's on the road to being a psychopath~'

"Hahahaha! Try if you can, girl hero! I am the shadow of Ruka now! You cannot slash a shadow. You cannot even touch me!"

'Then how can I touch you, and how did you bash the rat?' Ruka wondered… 'Maybe only dark entities can touch him… if so… I really am not human!'

"Then how about this?" she aimed her sword to Ruka's throat.

"I cannot slash you but I can kill your precious perfect host who you've found at last" Stan looked almost as shocked as Ruka.

"Then you'll have to go back into the bottle. How about that?" Rosalyn pinned the tip of her sword to Ruka's neck.

"Help me Stan!" 'Wait, he's just gonna provoke her… I'm doom!'

"Hey, I thought you were a hero. Are you going to kill an innocent boy? Huh?"

"This is the only way to help an unfortunate boy haunted by an Evil King! It's okay by me!"

"Would it help to beg?" Ruka asked, but was completely ignored.

"Come on, what do you think? Are you willing to wait another several hundred years for an ideal host to come along?"

"Argh, you brat!" Stan aimed at Rosalyn.

"You lost, Evil King Stan! I won't take his life just _yet_… If you bring my shadow back!"

'She's gonna kill me anyway… huh?' "Don't do it Stan!" 'It's a trap! If I'm going down you can keep that pink shadow!'

"Well… I can't, at this moment."

"What do you mean by that? ! You don't care about this boy's life? Look! I'm placing my sword to his throat!" she pressed a little harder toward Ruka, who had to lift his head and chin up more or risk being impaled.

'I should have never healed her from the poison! Che, go on, I won't die! I hope…' "Master…" Ruka whimpered.

"Calm down. Stop threatening my slave and let me explain." Stan was actually getting frantic.

"Come on, Evil King Stan. Why can't you bring my shadow back?" Rosalyn finally pulled the sword back and Ruka gave a sigh of relief while rubbing his neck.

"Your shadow is the sign of my influence on your being. The power I used to have was lost while I was in the bottle. And I found out a moment ago those stupid self-proclaimed Evil Kings have been appropriating the power and using it Therefore, I cannot bring your shadow back now. However.."

"However? However what! Just spit it out!"

"I promise that once I subjugate all the fake Evil Kings and completely regain my power back, I'll bring your shadow back first. In other words, if you help me, then I can revive faster, and you can return to you original state faster."

"Hm, good logic" 'But I thought Stan didn't want her to come along… they can't stand each other, but… he's willing to take her along, why?'

"You're saying that I should help you be revived as the Evil King? Don't insult me! Who do you think I am? I am a hero! A hero! Don't think you can manipulate me!" Rosalyn stomped her feet.

'… A hero was pinning a sword to innocent boy's throat saying it was for the greater cause…'

"Besides! Who would trust a promise from an Evil King!" Rosalyn continued breaking Ruka from his thoughts to put him into a different one.

'My father…' Ruka mused.

"Okay. Then I don't care." Stan crossed his stick arms.

"Oh? Is that right? You don't care about this boy, huh?"

"I'm starving, can we eat?" Ruka asked no one is particular, as both adults argued.

"It's your fault to begin with casually opening the bottle! Imbecile woman!"

"It's your fault. Just because a pretty girl uncorked your bottle doesn't mean you need to joyfully come out!"

"Who's the pretty girl? That is quite enough of your lip! You fat butt!"

"What the hell part of me is fat? You flat-butted, three-dimensionally challenged Evil King!"

"How dare you, airhead. You, stupid stupid stupid stupid brat!"

"The person who says stupid is stupid! You, stupid stupid stupid Evil King!"

"You're telling, voice inside my head… That it's going to go on and on and on… wait late that night?"

**-Scene change-**

"And….Hey slave, why is this woman in my room?" Stan asked turned to Ruka.

"…I don't know" Ruka stated as he looked around.

"Ugh, that's cheeky of you!" Stan shouted, flailing his arms.

"Actually, I don't know how we all ended up here. A moment ago we were in the sewers, weren't we?" Ruka muttered.

"…" 'True…' Stan thought, 'he doesn't understand the concept of following the story line yet, that's why he's important… soon we'll break free…'

"Ha ha ha ha! I finally found my foe. Why would I let you go?" Rosalyn mocked as she twirled her pink parasol.

"Ha, it means that you are becoming my servant?" Stan laughed.

"Don't be silly, stupid Evil King!" Rosalyn stomped her foot.

"Oh geez…" Ruka sighed, he was getting tired of their constant bickering.

"Huh, poor thing. You don't understand the greatness of moi, Evil King Stan. Is your head made of steel too? Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha, look slave. That is the face of a confused woman! Ha ha ha!"

"Yeah right. Greatness. I guess such a great Evil King wouldn't have any weaknesses, huh?" Rosalyn was up to something, but Stan couldn't see it, or pretended not to.

"Of course not. By the way, why don't you close your parasol indoors. It looks, well, STUPID!"

"S-shut up!"

"Yeah, it is pretty stupid" Ruka muttered, he wanted to the arguments to end, but he wanted revenge for the sword to the throat moment down in the sewers more…

"(puff) calm down, Rosalyn. I'll ask you again. Even an Evil King must have a blind spot, right?"

"Ha ha ha, you really are a clod! I won't be trapped by such a leading question. Of course I don't have one! Nice try, brat!"

"Yeah right. Fine. I'm tired and I'm taking a break, why don't you go to sleep too?"

"Hee hee hee. You don't understand, fool. I don't need to sleep. I am _the_ Evil King! A long as the shadow of my slave exists in the world, my rule continues. Ha ha ha ha!"

"You fell for it… Master" Ruka muttered, which stopped Stan's laughter,

"What?" Stan asked, just as Ruka pointed to Rosalyn who was over by the light switch.

"Goodnight, Stanley! Stan, the stupid ook, blockhead! 'I'm Stan! I'm so Evil! I'm soooo supreme! When I appear the heavens quake with fear!'" Rosalyn shouted with a grizzly voice.

"Nice try, but you need to work on it a little Rosalyn"

She just chuckled and walked up to Ruka, "At last, we are alone. Ruka…"

"Oh, you shouldn't Rosalyn"

"Shhh! Be quiet and listen" she came up close to him "I got it because stupid there said, 'As long as the shadows exists Listen Ruka, I have an important matter to discuss, just between us…"

"But I'm younger than you…"

"Huh? Why do you care about being young? Anyway, the important matter is… There is a rumor that the King's daughter, I mean the Princess, is going around here incognito. The power of the royal family is considerable. If we can meet the Princess and talk about Stan, then maybe… She will punish Stan. If everything works out, she may separated Stan from you… Then you can be happy and my shadow will return to its original state. Got it? Right, then. Why don't we go find the Princess?" She grabbed Ruka's hands,

"No…" he pulled away, 'Not another haughty woman, I have enough to deal with, with a haughty shadow… sigh… but a promise is a promise, for Annie…'

"(Sigh) Poor thing. Stan brainwashed you… Fine, I'll accompany you until your realize the truth."

Just then a different tune played, Ruka flinched, but otherwise didn't say anything.

"Did you hear that?" Rosalyn looked around.

"Nope… you must be…" 'Getting senile' "hearing things" Ruka smirked, but it was too dark to see.

"I see…Well, good night. I'm looking forward to accompanying you." Rosalyn kissed him… and left.

"Ugh…" Ruka rubbed his face 'Turmoil, worse, what kind of conscious are you! You're horrible!' After yelling at the narrations, though only mentally, he went to turn on the light switch.

Stan looked surprised to see the light turned back on, but then he started to rant when he realized why they were off in the first place.

"Grr… that imbecile fat legged woman!"

"Welcome back Master Stan… and Goodnight" and with that Ruka went to bed as Stan grumbled unfair treatment to his royal self. After a little while, a word was uttered in the lit inn room.

"Why…?" Stan muttered softly, as not to wake Ruka,

But Ruka heard, never the less, and answered "I promised you" and went to sleep for real this time.

**TBC…**

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><p><strong>KH: Wow, I only have half of Chapter 3 done… and it's pretty funny… ah, back to writing!<strong>

Still sick in bed, barely can open eyes to see the sun… which is very inconsistent now… one day it's freezing, the next it's warm… no wonder I have a migraine, either because of that, or it might just be the sugar I keep consuming…


	6. As her Majesty commands Part 1

**Ruka to Maou**

**Summary:** In the prelude

**Main Pairing:** Stan x Ruka

**Other Pairings:** Undecided, life is fickle, let the characters be fickle.

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Game

**Disclaimer: Okage © of Zenner Works**, therefore I own nothing!

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><p><strong>Thank-you to the reviewers!<strong>

**Thank-you to the Anonymous reviewer! I'm no longer sick, but everyone in my family is now… But that's not why this is so late, the reason for that is 'I just started up University again, and got kinda busy' I'm not sure if I'll be updating anything until summer, but I won't give up on it, because I already have notes and the ending planned out… thought that might give me less motivation since I know the ending, but I will finish this!**

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><p><strong>KH: Sorry for being a lazy good-for-nothing! But I hope you all enjoy!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: As her Majesty commands Part 1<strong>

The next morning… after breakfast, because Stan knows you don't want a cranky Ruka.

Ruka was muttering to himself.

"Great, another buddy… and that sewer rat only had 100 or so sukels on him… sheesh, I used up like two nuts. I guess I should stock up on nuts and purging stones… Now where is Rosalyn…?" Ruka wondered, he was about to leave when neon pink caught his attention.

"Hey Rosa- ah, you're not her…"

"Ha ha! I'm the gypsy fortune teller. There is a reason I can't reveal my real name… but 'Love Fortune Teller Master No.2' is what people call me. Just one look into my crystal and I'll identify exactly who loves you the most. Ha ha! Would you like me to tell you your fortune of love?" she asked, again this woman was wiping an imaginary wall.

'Hm…I wonder…' "Yes please!" Ruka feigned cheeriness.

'Better not be Rosalyn, that's way too creepy…' Ruka crossed his fingers.

"Here we go! Come to me, my dear fairy…"

'Fairy, where?' Ruka looked around.

"Come on, now, easy now… Ah, here it is! You get along the best with… Whoa! W-with the Evil King, Stan! Nooooo! Keep away from me!" the small woman jumped over the counter scaring the clerk, and then peered over and whispered,

"Then… come again soon… or rather… not" and she slipped away…

'… Stan again… Mom, dad, don't you love your only son…? Sigh…'

Exiting the inconspicuous hotel, Ruka ran into Dill, quite literally, who announced,

"You know that parasol woman is a whisker mole Team!" and something about seeing her in Maggie's house, so Ruka turned left right into the house.

Maggie practically jumped him once he entered the door, "Well, although you were new, I knew you could do it! Incredible! Defeating the Evil King! If something ever happens again, we'll count on you to help us out. I'll help you in any way I can, too, if it's OK with you."

"Thanks" Rosalyn thanked Maggie as the small ponytailed girl slid off the redhead.

"We could use your help, too" Ruka mocked bowed.

"Hey, slave! Don't ask anyone for help without my permission! Why should I want the help of such a silly girl?"

"Hey, what are you saying? You know you couldn't have gotten past the gate to the sewer without out help" Maggie informed/ teased.

"(Giggling)…Hehe! He may be an Evil King, but he doesn't amount to much; can't do anything on his own" Rosalyn teased.

'What's up with female and teasing?' Ruka wondered, while stepping back from the fray.

"Oh, shuddup, I don't want to hear it!" Stan wailed.

"Hahaha! Well, that's OK. It was really nothing, so-" Maggie giggled.

"No, no, no and no! You got it all wrong! If I had used my real power, it would have been a piece of cake… Ugh. If I hadn't been in such a good mood having gotten rid of the rat, I'd just get rid of this stupid girl, too, Drat, drat, drat it all! I can't stand these insults anymore! Let's go slave!" and with that they both left.

Ruka walked over to the elevator "Oh, would you look at that, they opened it up once the bad guys are gone, what good neighbors…" and up they went. Suddenly a girl with horns caught Ruka's attention… or more so pulled him into attention.

"Oh, hello there!" she chirped.

"Oh, great…" Ruka muttered into his hand 'Just avoid eye-contact'.

"You! The cool guy who's about to walk away!"

"Flattery works every time" Ruka smiled and went over.

"Yes! You! Please! Please, listen to my story!" she begged, Stan popped out wondering why Ruka stopped walking.

"Um, I'm sorry if I startled you, asking you to stop and listen. Um. Could you please listen to my singing?"

"Yes, I guess."

"Hi, my name is Linda. I want to be a teen idol singer. So here I am, working hard to let everyone know about me and my songs. But… People in the big city are so cold. Sometimes I feel I can't go on anymore

"That's life for you"

"Oh, behind your cold words are such warm encouraging thoughts! I knew you were a very nice person! So let me sing for you, straight from my heart! This song has no words but … Lalalalaha etc .!"

"Oh, stop it! Are you tone deaf! You think I can't hear? My ears are about to fall off!" Stan shouted, Ruka just kept his ears plugged and shut his eyes.

"Gasp! Oh, sorry. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! So is my singing that bad? Do I have no talent? Yes, I know. I know I'm no good"

"You're not that bad!" Ruka shouted, because he had still plugged his ears to keep them from bleeding…

"Really? So you really think so?"

'Huh, what did she say?'

"Heh, heh, heh. I knew you were a very nice person. Thanks you, I'm encouraged!"

'Really?' both Ruka and Stan thought as Linda twirled around.

'Wow, she is peppy!' Ruka chuckled.

"Could you please tell me your name?"

"Hahaha, then, let me tell you. My name is Stan. Master Stan, the Evil King of the Dark. And this guy here is my slave Ruka!"

"Oh, Ruka? What a nice name."

"Hey, fool girl, I'm…"

"Ruka. Um, well… Would you please come see me again? I'll be here. I'll always be here singing"

'I wonder if Stan can beat any women in a shouting contest… oh yeah, only Rosalyn, now where did that bi-polar woman go? Oh well, one less headache'

Ruka turned right and there was a strange looking building, Ruka tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open, then Stan popped out.

"It looks suspicious. Let me check inside for you" and then he exited Ruka's shadow, Ruka contemplated running for it, but then Stan reappeared giggling…

"I hid the door mat! The unsuspecting resident won't be able to scrape the dirt off his shoe when he comes home! Hu hahahaha!"

'O-kay… Oh look a chicken headed station staff… That's strange, there was nothing about a railroad on the brochure in the town hall… Maybe it's not in use? Oh, even the staff man looks confused… I better not talk to him; the confused ones always ramble…'

That's when he spots a man to the right of the station counting something with a swanky mirror.

"Sorry, wait, just a second" the man apologized as he counted desperately, "258, 259, AND 260. Oh? Such an even number? Oh, sorry about that. I was counting the moles on my body. Oops! I forgot the moles on my back! Just kidding! I counted them using this mirror. Well, why not celebrate it being such an even number by giving you this hand mirror as a gift."

Ruka acquired 'Swanky Mirror'! The acquired music played.

'That-That's a lot of moles…'

"Let's see, what should I count next? Yes! Let's find some spider eggs and count the number of spider babies! Ooo, I feel like something's crawling down my back. How creepy. I've got goose bumps. But look at how many there are! There's a ton of them! Boy, this is gonna be fun."

Ruka, held it out the mirror with his index finger and his thumb, not really wanting to use it now…

'Maybe there's a trashcan in this building…' he entered the door right next to the man, when someone in all yellow fell over him.

"I feel sick" a hung over gal heaved, "I've got a headache. My body's aching all over. Why do I keep doing this to myself? I'm too old for this! Um… where am I? ZZZZZ Oops, how embarrassing. I must have fallen asleep. I'm sorry, I'm such a loser… Oops, I've been drooling… Gawd, I'm afraid to see what I look like right now…"

'Not pretty…' Ruka thought as he tried to get the woman off him 'And you reek of booze!'

She notices the swanky mirror in Ruka's hand.

"Hey, you've got something nice. Can I see it? Thanks…" Ruka just handed over the mirror as the woman got off him. Dusting himself he watched as the woman eyes become wide.

"… Oh no! I have to re-apply my make-up! My customers will call me creepy. Well, I'd better get ready to go to work now that my headache's going away."

'Good… then I can leave' "Oh, yes, young boy…" she turned back to Ruka.

'Damn…' he inwardly cursed, then put on his fake 'I'm a nice guy/ shit-eating' smile "Yes?"

"You might be too young for now, but call me at this number if anything happens. I might not be of much help but I can comfort you when you feel like crying" she smiled a creepy smile.

"Well now I kind of feel like visiting this bar more often" Stan popped up.

"Oh, hello, little ghost. I'd love you to visit me as my customer"

"Um. I'm not a ghost! But I'll forgive you for that slight, this time."

'Huh, Stan likes 'those types of girls'… I never knew he was one for the flattering type, NOT!'

Ruka chuckled as he acquired 'Gaudy Card' the music played, Ruka put the card away and left.

'Well there is one more house here…'

"Oh, why, why, why? Why doesn't my Prince Charming come into my life? I've been waiting and waiting for him!" A beautiful blond woman in blue eye-shadow and a red dress sobbed.

"Someone with spiky hair and intense eyes, who dresses well and can accept me with open arms. Am I asking for too much? No… I don't think so. Someday, my prince will come. I know he will… So I'll keep waiting. I'll wait for him forever!"

'… okay… if I find someone like that I'll be sure to bring him over… she seems really lonely… and that will lead to insanity soon…' leaving the house he looked at the name plate, it read Miss Madril…

'Ah, well, I better get going and wonder where to…?' Ruka took out the Map O' Evil Kings.

"The water ripples in the wind but down below, there are signs of a suspicious being. It will bring about a regal disorder" 'Great… this princess is gonna be trouble' Ruka looked down at his shadow, Stan was giggling because he apparently remembered the welcome mat incident… 'At least _she's_ not here…'

Ruka was about to leave when Rosalyn came running after him…

'Sigh, Tis always too good to be true…' they exited the second level via the gear-gates when they were greeted by that crazy illogical professor!

"Hahaha! I've been waiting for you, Miss Hero. You darling instigator, you!"

'Great… it's your fault…' Ruka glared at Rosalyn.

"Huh? Excuse me, sir, whoever you are; will you let me pass, please?"

'Why is she acting polite now?' Ruka wondered 'Oh right, bi-polar…'

"Hoho haha! Miss Hero, come let us go on a journey, a great quest! Come along with me, Gutten Kisling!"

'Go on!' Ruka closed his eyes and crossed his fingers.

"Umm… Excuse me?"

"My keen, intelligent brains tell me you are the one! The one who is unparalleled in her entertainment ability and her misfortunes. A biological machine that function as a trigger to generate various singular phenomena!"

"What's he talking about?"

"… She attracts weirdoes… and ghost… great…" Ruka sighed as he muttered, Stan overheard and translated.

"This old man, in effect, is saying that he's curious about you and wants to follow you around. Hwa ha ha! Atta girl, fat legs! Attracting suspicious old men!"

"Stan, you're an old man too…" Ruka muttered as he kicked up dirt, only Stan heard.

"What I-" Stan couldn't reject the answer because Kisling interrupted, yet again…

"Ho ha ha ha! You are right! The life work of yours truly, Great Professor Kisling, is the study of ghosts! Miss Hero, my instincts tell me that, with you, I will experience a multitude of encounters with ghosts!"

"Knock it off! I have my hands full as it is with this stupid shadow! GO away! Shoo! Shoo!" Rosalyn shooed.

'Well, you could always just leave…' Ruka rolled his eyes, 'I wonder if I could make a break for it, but then again knowing my luck, they'll BOTH follow me…' his large green eyes widened when he thought 'both'.

"Oh, my beautiful hero, I wish you could feel my heart. Yes. The research is but an excuse. Must I tell you that I was swept away by your loveliness?"

'BULL!' Ruka kept quiet, a calm expression on.

"Oh, my, you flatter me. You silly boy, you… What's a girl to do… Ruka?" She was all smiles, and she turned to the poor unfortunate redhead.

'What…? I'm not a girl… Meh' "Toy with his feelings" Ruka answered.

"Don't ask the slave, ask moi, you washbowl woman! I'm telling you now, I disapprove. This old man is too suspicious!"

"Oh, so you disapprove? Then, I approve! He doesn't seem like a bad guy. Come along with me, Prof. Kisling!"

"Grrr, stupid woman! Swept away so easily by false flattery."

"Ho ha ha ha! Well let's get rolling, shall we?" the accompanied song played, and they all looked around.

"Professor, did you hear that?" Rosalyn asked, with her right hand covering her left cheek.

"I hear lots of things my dear, what did you hear?" Kisling grinned.

"Um, never mind…" Rosalyn waved it off as they walked down the path enclosed by the two rust colored mountains.

'Hm… since we got on the elevator, means this area, and that plain over there are higher than sea level… but I see sea over there… and -oooo I see a treasure box, MINE!' Running off to near the waterfall, Ruka found a broken treasure box which contained a cool vest and another tiny gear right next to the waterfall.

'Aw, this doesn't have any ATK or DEF points… I'll be slaughtered… though I'll look cool while dying… Naw, I rather live' Ruka placed it into his pack while they walked/ bickered. And right when they were about to cross the bridge a ghost appeared…

"I was right! Miss Hero's amazing bad luck has already quadrupled the ghost appearance rate!" Kisling was ecstatic!

"…" Ruka turn to glare at him and then at Rosalyn who just kept quiet.

"Argghh! Woman, it's your fault! You befriended this fool!" Stan shouted as the ghost attacked.

It was done away swiftly by a barrage of overdrives and multiplayer attacks.

'Damn young Trent… at least the frogs were easy to kill…' Ruka chewed on a nut.

After collecting more and more tiny gear, three more to be precise, and a punk wig (which Ruka tried on 'Naw, not my style' he thought while taking off the blue spikes) in another broken treasure boxes east of the map they had, which concluded that they were heading south, they came to some ruins…

At the ruins they found chic suspenders, right next to a tiny frog ('It's absolutely adorable… I wonder if I can keep in my ever expanding pack…') and two more tiny gears. They finally got to a tower… but it wasn't glowing.

'That's strange; they usually glow when I find them…' Going left in the fork they found a bridge, next to the bridge was a treasure box next to a bunch of crabs, in it contained gorgeous mascara. Crossing the bridge, Ruka found another tiny gear next to a coconut… which was his main target.

'I'm getting thirsty…' After tossing the dry, almost fossilized coconut Ruka and the gang headed right, passing the pier to Rashelo and went over to the circus grounds. It seems ghost hate circuses… And there were two treasure boxes, one had cholesterol in it and the other had Lustrous Hair…

'Hm, seems like all the ingredients for that prince charming Miss Madril wanted… All I need now is to find intense eyes… maybe some contacts…? And then Casanova himself' That's when Ruka spots a tiny gear at the edge of the curly cliff.

"How many are there?" he asked no one in particular.

"Not sure… how many do you have?" Rosalyn asked.

"Right now, 16… and I bet there are more…"

"Hm, I'm not well verse in the art of the gear, my studies apply more to the spooky variety" Kisling inputted…

"Sigh…" Ruka sighed as he pocked the tiny gear.

"Slave, didn't you have business with this cliff?"

"Huh… Oh, right, the curly cliff! Thank-you Master Stan" Ruka thanked him and laughed, Stan seemed to turn red…from embarrassment. It amazed both Rosalyn and Kisling. Rosalyn was amaze that Stan could even experience such feelings, and Kisling was amazed because he'd never seen a shadow turn red!

Once a top the cliff someone shouted,

"Freeze. Don't move. Don't turn around. I'm from the world Crypto Organization. So, you've made it this far. Well, well, you must be a 'Cypher Extraordinarie' The next cyphertext is:

X- Station - O'

"Good-bye." And with that, they left, as Ruka acquired 'Cyphertext 4'! which floated down via mini parachute.

"Who was that?" Rosalyn asked turning around.

"One of secret operators of the world crypto cyphertext association. I'm a member~"

"Ohh" Rosalyn and Kisling ooed.

"Ahem, slave, we should be going…" Stan was still pinkish…

"Okay~ Oh, wait, I have to talk to the guy over yonder with the green hair"

"Why do you find it necessary to talk to every stranger you meet? It's not a good habit" Stan lectured.

"But I get information that could be useful for your world conquest master… please?" Ruka pouted, and Stan gave him,

"Ah, very well"

"…" Rosalyn and Kisling just stared at the spectacle. Was Stan the master… really?

"That's how you manipulate him" Ruka mouthed to them and smiled,

'Nope…Stan is most certainly not' they thought.

"Hi there! Have you heard of messages in a bottle? You put your message in a bottle and release it at a river or sea. What if someone, somewhere found the bottle and read the message inside? Don't you think that your world would expand to a new level? And, maybe, just maybe, whoever found it might write back to you. I know, I know, I'm a hopeless romantic so that is why I'm releasing messages in a bottle. It is my quest for romance. If I release it here, I think it'll reach the lake. Oh, I can't wait; I wonder who will find it?" The dreaming circus performer stated whimsically.

"That's true… but I don't have a bottle"

"Oh, that's too bad… But if you do, come release it here, okay, I would like to take part in the first of your romantic journey!"

"…W-will do" Ruka stated while backing away slowly and left after that.

"Well that was pointless"

"W-well not entirely, you could expand your evil to foreign lands"

"Feh, letters are for the weak minded"

"…" Ruka just sighed, his other two companions just shrugged as they trudged on to Rashelo.

After crossing the bridge, which his two companions rushed ahead, knocking the poor redhead to the sandy floorboards, Ruka got up grouchily and rushed after them, hoping to kick them into the clear water below.

'Maybe that shark would eat them…' Ruka arrived in town. Looking around, the town was all on the deck just a few feet from the water, and the only building not made entirely out of wood was a shop.

"So, this is Rashelo? Bleah, smells fishy!" Stan scoffed.

'Maybe because there are fish strung up everywhere?' Ruka looked around, there were fish on hooks, fish in pales, and fish in boxes.

"Well, the town of Rashelo's main industry is fishing. This place is architecturally interesting because the entire town is built over the lake! In addition, when we visit the port we can observe the ancient ruin called the 'Aquatic Ruins'"

'Lake, this looks like an ocean… I can't see land beyond here…' Ruka mused.

"'Aquatic Ruins'… The old building sank under the lake. Nobody knows when it was built…" Rosalyn inputted.

"Grrr! What do I care for an old wrecked building! ? According to the Map o' Evil Kings, one of those fake Evil Kings is nearby. I have it! Let's conquer this town and hunt that imposter down! Now slave, we formulate a devious plan of conquest!"

"Ugh! I won't let you! Come on Ruka. Let's go to the Hero Association of this town and help people!"

"You shut up bug-eyed woman! He's my slave!"

"No, I won't let him! I will correct Ruka beautifully!"

'Either way there is gonna be a fight, and since I'm stuck with Stan… that and I don't want to be beautiful…'

"I'm listening to Stan"

"Ahaha! Hear that belt head? With my authority, a tub woman means nothing but soot~"

"Come on Ruka! Don't take the path of evil!" Rosalyn whined and stomped her foot. The pier shook a little.

"Well, this is pointless argument is interesting but look! Something is going on over there too, isn't it?" Kisling asks, successfully changing the topic.

'Maybe having Kisling around won't be so bad…' Ruka looks at the wheezing mad scientist with the electrified hair… 'Or maybe not…'

"Heh? Oh it's true. I wonder what is going on? Let's go Ruka!" Stan pointed as everyone was leaving.

Instead Ruka started to wander, first the shop where he purchased new equipment such as a nameless sword which had +15 Attack power and a fancy outfit which had +3 Defense capabilities. Then he sold his clean outfit and ordinary sword, after that he went into a restaurant with a giant lobster on it, it was connected to a bar, but the bar was off-limits to minors.

He stumbled onto a man who was pacing about near the produce. Apparently he was the bar and restaurant owner, and he kept chatting and chatting about how they're running out of fish. So after ordering a chicken sandwich and some fruit Ruka turned to leave, but he then bumped into a child with bright large eyes. On closer inspection found out they were contacts.

'Perfect' the child wanted to see Stan, even though he knew Stan would be upset, he showed him. And the boy handed him _**Shiny Lens**_. Stan boasted that everyone who sees him would always bestow gifts…

'Whatever floats your boat? Hm, now all I need is a love sick puppy…' he walked passed a hut, which seem to be the housing of choice in Rashelo, before he went pass the shop, he had heard sobbing… The sign read 'Residence of Young MAN IN Love with Miss Madril' "Convenient…" Ruka muttered while wondering if this had all been a set up…

Ruka entered the hut, 'Wow, it's cramp… I think I'd become claustrophobic in two hours, how can people live in these? Especially with families? ! Does this mean, all the residents of Rashelo is single?' he wondered as he looked around, and spotted the pitiful sobbing blob of human in a 'corner'.

"Well, this hut is round, there really isn't a corner, is there?" Ruka muttered when he went over, and squatted down, poking the man in the head.

"Sigh, I'm no good. I'm an un-cool unpopular man. But… but every waking moment. All I can think of is her. If she gives me any kind of smile, it'll be heavenly. I have to become a man more suitable for her sense of taste and style. But how…?" the man looked up.

Ruka handed him a punk hairstyle, cholesterol, chic suspenders, and the shiny lens.

"I've think I've gained a lot of confidence. I'm almost there. I just need a little more. I'm not very good at talking" the man stood up.

'You've been doing it the whole time…' Ruka sighed, but then he remembered the chatty man in the restaurant.

Rushing over there to get this over with, he talked to the bar owner,

"? What? Is anything wrong?"

'I can ask him how to sweet talk girls, or tell me how to mix a margarita, or maybe I should just ask him how the heck he is and leave… why am I helping those two anyways…?' Ruka wondered for a while, then sighed 'Because I'm a goody-goody…'

"Tell me how to sweet talk girls" Ruka deadpanned, his deep green eyes looked nearly dead.

"…Huh?" the bar owner went wide-eyed.

'Is it so surprising that _I_ would ask this?' Ruka wondered with a smirk.

"You are still young and ask me such a thing? Oh boy." The man placed a hand on his cheek and shook his head. "Well, that's all I thought about when I was young too. Ha ha ha"

"Not for me for a …an acquaintance" 'He's not really my friend, I mean I just met him'

"…Well, let me see. Usually a straight ball is favored rather than throwing a curve"

'What are we playing baseball or cat and mouse?' Ruka rolled his eyes.

"'You are so beautiful that all the words in the world aren't enough to describe your brilliance. So, the only thing I can say is: I love you' How about that? A little corny, but it's good for this kind of thing. Why don't you write it down?"

"Done, and done" Ruka stated as he showed the man the notepad, the man nodded and went back to pacing.

Returning to the said love sick puppy he showed him the notepad and the man repeated the words and left… probably for Madril.

"Che, sweet talk, nothing but flattery…" Stan spat.

"Master Stan"

"Hm"

"No man nor beast can compare to the sheer malevolence of _the _almighty regal dark majesty such as King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV" and with that Ruka bowed.

Stan was silent for a moment, but then laughed "Of course!" and went chattering on and on that he was the most evil, and will subjugate the world… and yatta yatta yatta…

After arriving near the mayor's house,

"I wonder what is going on? There are so many people here…" Rosalyn wondered as she suddenly appeared next to Ruka.

'Uh, there was like three people who told me and the map that told us PRINCESS! Where have you been?'

"By the way, Stan! Don't move and talk in front of people, okay? If people find out that I'm with you… not only will my hero qualification be revoked but I also won't be able to marry!" Stan popped out ready to start his rant of how Rosalyn would be age all alone when Ruka said.

"What do you mean, you won't be able to marry, it's not like Stan and you are an item Rosalyn, he's stuck with me" Ruka said flatly.

"…" everyone stared at Ruka…

"Well it's true…" Ruka shrugged then went back to looking at the crowd… when it hit him like a ton of bricks 'Wait, that didn't sound right… Stan and I are both guys!' Green orbs widened, then looked at his other two companion, Rosalyn looked speechless as she stared at him.

Kisling, who was trying to change the subject, turned to the crowd and said "Hmm? Look at that. Somebody came out. Who is it?"

'Me?' Ruka thought… 'N-no… definitely not…me…'

"Oh princess!" "It's her highness princess Marlene!" townsfolk called out.

"Princess?" Stan asked.

"Shh, be quiet!" Rosalyn hushed him; she really didn't want to be found with an evil being, especially by royalty.

Ruka stared at her, Stan huffed.

'She's feels… familiar… a creepy familiar…' then their eyes met… the princess had caught Ruka staring, and dismissed him with haughty humph, but for that brief moment when he stared into those crimson orbs he thought, 'There is nothing there… she's empty…' and his eye promptly twitched.

The townsfolk were whispering saying she was majestic and heavenly.

"… Master Stan" Ruka whispered so only Stan could hear him.

"What…"

"I don't think she's human…"

'… Without my powers I can't tell… but Ruka may be right… though… that brat is nothing dangerous'

A middle aged man, in the tuxedo standing next to the so called princess was speaking to someone who might be the mayor. Ruka didn't know that many people in Rashelo, heck he didn't anyone outside of Tenel.

"Princess Marlene is taking a boat to the symbol of the lake, the 'Aquatic Ruins' The 'Aquatic Ruins' is the place for an important ceremony! The villagers are prohibited to take a boat on the lake for 2 days. This is so as not to disturb the Princess' prayers until the ceremony is over." The grey-haired butler announced.

"Is something wrong…?" the elder man asked, shaking, "The Aquatic Ruins are ruins that nobody goes in-"

"It's not your concern, ok? You shall not take any boat on the lake and approach the Aquatic Ruins!" the middle age man yelled. The elderly man flinched back.

'That man… he seems dangerous to me…' Ruka watched the man more than the princess, while everyone was captivated by the ginger with the beautiful bloody crimson eyes.

"O-Of course, of course. It is a great pleasure to have her Highness in this town. We townspeople are praying for the ceremony's success." The mayor nodded as he placed his hands behind his hunched back.

"Princess… I'm so glad we found her so quickly! Now, we gotta go meet her!" Rosalyn cheered, Ruka flinched backwards,

"… Princess… Silly. This is silly. She's just some snob girl. I suppose the assembly line loser hero over there wants to help the Princess to take advantage of the situation and get her fame and glory. Oh what a beast human vanity is!" Stan chortled.

"Shut-up! It's not that! I just want to ask the Princess if you… oops!"

"? Me?"

"…No, nothing , um, la-la-lah…"

"Bah, whatever. Anyway let's go, you florescent pink brat. You want to meet the Princess right?"

Ruka gave Stan a wide-eye look. Stan just smirked.

"…You are suspiciously cooperative. You've got to be up to something!" Rosalyn accused.

'Like you're not…?' Ruka sighed, and then he himself had an idea.

"Eh? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything yet" Stan chuckled.

"…'Yet'? What do you mean 'yet', huh?" Rosalyn stepped up so she was face to face with Ruka and stared up at Stan. "…You are really suspicious"

'And you are really close… too close…' Ruka took a step back from the glaring sandy-blonde woman.

**TBC…**

* * *

><p><strong>KH: Um, I haven't written anything new yet, but yeah, I'm back in uni and well, Linguistics is killer! Japanese just got harder since its fourth semester. Climatology is full of terms that all mean the same thing…But I love Greek and Roman Archaeology! That and Karate! <strong>

I might update in a month or two or during Summer.**  
><strong>


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